End of an Era: Sean Flaherty Pulls Up Stumps After Nearly Five Decades in the Industry

July 17, 2026

After 48 years in the automotive and trucking world, including the last 14 at Westar Truck Centre, Heavy Sales Executive Sean Flaherty is hanging up his boots. As he turns 65 and heads into retirement, Sean sat down to reflect on a career that started with a bus ride to a job interview and ended as one of the most respected figures in the heavy truck industry.

Sean’s story begins in 1978, when a Year 12 student at Broadmeadows High School decided he’d had enough of the classroom.

“I applied for a job at Ford Motor Company Head Office as a banking clerk. I didn’t even have my car licence, so I caught the bus to the interview. I got the job that day and started a week later.”

It was the beginning of a 20-year run with Ford, a company Sean describes himself as belonging to “through and through”. He still remembers the slogan from his first year: “Going Great in 78.”

Ford backed him, too. Encouraged to get a degree if he wanted to reach management, Sean studied a Bachelor of Business part time at RMIT, with the company giving him time off for classes and covering his HECS fees. He graduated in 1994 and was promoted to Marketing Analysis Manager the following year.

One memory from those Ford years still stands out above the rest. “I got my first company car, a Ford Cortina, when I was 25. I came home and told my dad, and the smile on his face is something I’ll never forget.”

After 19 years on the car side of the business, Sean was headhunted in 1997 by Frank Laserra, then National Sales & Marketing Manager for Ford Heavy Trucks. It was the start of a 29-year career in the heavy truck industry.

When Ford sold its heavy truck business to Daimler, Sean and Frank were brought on by Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) to build a head office team and dealer network for a brand new marque: Sterling Trucks. The first truck rolled off the line in Canada in 1999, and Sean went on to become National Sales Manager for Sterling and Freightliner Trucks.

But after years of selling trucks from the boardroom, Sean wanted a change of direction, and he found it out in dealer land.

“To this day, I still believe the Sales Manager’s role at any dealership is one of the best roles you could wish for.”

In 2012, at age 51, Sean left Daimler Trucks and joined the Patterson Cheney Group selling Western Star Trucks. “I wasn’t sure how long I’d work for at that point. Fourteen years later, I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed every minute with this great company.”

Asked about his proudest achievement, Sean points to his time as Sales Manager at Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Somerton. When he started there in 2003, the dealership was delivering two to three Freightliners a month. By the end of 2005, the team had delivered 100 Freightliners in the calendar year, excluding national fleet deliveries.

“It was a huge effort from a small team that was 100 per cent focused on hitting that target.”

Reflecting on nearly five decades in the industry, Sean nominates the Button Plan of 1983 as the moment that changed everything. The Hawke government initiative, driven by Senator John Button, set out to rationalise the Australian motor vehicle industry, with tariffs reduced over time from 57.5 per cent to zero.

“The plan was to force Australia to be more efficient and develop export markets. Other factors came into play over the years, but that decision had a huge impact.” Local manufacturing eventually wound down, with Ford ceasing production in 2016 and Holden and Toyota following in 2017.

Who had the biggest impact on him? “That’s a difficult one, but I know I got my work ethic from my dad.”

That ethic was sharpened at Ford by an American boss, Don Leclair, who later became CFO of Ford US. “He came out of his office around 7pm one night and said, Sean, I don’t want you working these long hours. Do your 10 hours and get the hell out of here. I walked out to my car that night wondering what happened to the 8-hour day, but I’ve used that 10 hours as my benchmark for most of my career.”

His advice for young salespeople today is refreshingly simple. “Don’t be in a hurry. If you don’t get that promotion, trust the people you work for. Your time will come, and when it does, grab the bull by the horns with both hands. And work smarter, not harder. Oh, and remember: do your 10 hours and get the hell out of here.”

Retirement for Sean means more time with his grandchildren, travel, staying heavily involved in his local football club, and chasing one of his other great passions: getting back on his surfboard at Phillip Island to catch some waves.

As for what he’ll miss? “My battles with the Service Department, although I’m not sure I ever won one,” he laughs. “But seriously, I’ll miss being part of a team. Those weeks when we all had a good week, or got an important client over the line, and everyone got around each other. All pushing for the one goal, focused and getting the job done. It’s a great feeling.”

Sean signs off the way you’d expect: with warmth and a wink. “Thank you all, it’s been a pleasure working with every one of you. Yes, even you, Clint.”

Congratulations on an incredible career, Sean. Enjoy the waves.