Paccar – the parent company of Peterbilt and Kenworth – is building its first engine manufacturing plant in North America.

Company officials broke ground Wednesday for a $400 million plant near Columbus, MS.

It will produce a 9.2-liter diesel engine for vocational trucks.

The company’s Class 8 trucks will still be equipped with Cummins or Caterpillar engines.

A Paccar press release said the 420,000 square foot engine and technology plant should be up and running in two years.