Penrite is an Australian independent international lubricants company for vehicles established in 1926. The head office is located in

Dandenong South Dandenong South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Dandenong South recorded a population of 125 at t ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with other major offices in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, exporting to over 50 countries in Europe, Asia and the United States. The company is privately owned. Penrite manufactures over 170 different products across 12 different market segments. The product range includes

Motor oil Motor oil, engine oil, or engine lubricant is any one of various substances used for the lubrication of internal combustion engines. They typically consist of base oils enhanced with various additives, particularly antiwear additives, deterge ...

, Automatic Transmission Fluids, Gear & Differential Oils, Heavy Duty, Hydraulic & Gear Oils, Industrial, Farm and Construction products, 2/4 Stroke & Garden Equipment Oils, Greases,

Coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corr ...

s, Fuel Treatments & Additives, Car Care, Motorcycle & Marine products, Veteran Vintage & Classic products, Brake Fluids and Power Steering & Suspension Fluids.

History

In 1926, 16 year old Les Mecoles founded Penrite Oil Company from his parents’ home in St Kilda,

, Australia. The first batches of oil were made on his mother's kitchen stove and delivered to service stations, milling factories and the local shipping port using his father's wheelbarrow. As the business began to grow, a new blending facility was built in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. After several years, Penrite again moved to Abbotsford due to further growth as Melbourne and regional Victoria grew in population and the road and railway network expanded across Australia. In 1965, Penrite again was forced to move to nearby Brunswick East as the Abbotsford site was purchased by the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

to make way for the newly commissioned Eastern Freeway. The business continued to grow, but in 1979, Les Mecoles, suffering from poor health, sold the company to John and Margaret Dymond. In 1981, Penrite launched its flagship range of multigrade motor oils known as HPR (High Performance Range), identified to solve modern engine oil consumption problems and tailored for the local Australian driving conditions. During the late 1980s to mid-1990s, Penrite continued to grow and expand, opening up new distribution channels and market segments. A second blending facility was opened in

, soon followed by new warehousing in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

and Darwin. Exports commenced in New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. In 1997, the existing blending facility in Brunswick East could no longer keep up with the demand and was relocated to Wantirna South in Melbourne's east and soon after, the Brisbane site was also relocated to larger premises in Crestmead. In 2016, Penrite opened a new blending facility and moved the head office from Wantirna South to

Motorsport

Penrite's marketing activities includes an involvement in

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

, partnering with numerous teams and privateers worldwide across a wide range of motorsport disciplines including

Auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Motorcycle racing The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

Kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

and

Boat racing Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water body, water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and ...

. Some key partnerships include

Honda Racing Corporation Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known as Honda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of the Honda, Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda's motorcycle racing activities, b ...

and

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...

. From

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

until

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Penrite was the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

sponsor of

, initially for one car and from

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

both cars. The most notable achievement of the partnership was winning 2017 Bathurst 1000 with David Reynolds and Luke Youlden. Penrite also took on title sponsorship of the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Penrite moved with David Reynolds to Kelly Racing. It also sponsored Matthew Payne's Nissan Altima L33 in

Super2 Series The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian touring car racing competition, specifical ...

for selected rounds. Since

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Penrite expanded has been naming rights sponsor with

Grove Racing Grove Racing is an Australian motor racing team that's previously competed in various series, including the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship and Super2 Series. The team is making its debut in the Supercars Championship in 2022. They w ...

. The Penrite and Honda Racing partnership began in 2013 with the Australian factory

Motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

Team. Since then the partnership expanded to sponsoring riders not only in Motorcross but Supercross, Endurance and Road Racing factory teams. The most notable achievements of the partnerships include the three straight Australian Supercross Championships in 2016, 2017 & 2018 with US rider Justin Brayton and the 2018

Australian Superbike Championship The Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) is a national motorcycle racing championship in Australia, organized by Motorcycling Australia. History The story of the Australian Superbike Championship begins in 1980, at a time in motorcycle spo ...

with rider Troy Herfoss.

Environmental

Penrite is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant which must meet local and regulatory requirements to minimise any environmental impact by reducing emissions and developing safe and sustainable, production, storage and distribution methodologies. In 2016, Penrite was awarded the Australian Packaging Covenant High Performer Award for exceeding the regulatory requirements. In 2017 Penrite was also awarded the Most Innovative New Packaging Award by the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association when releasing the Enviro Box™ a bag-in-a-box concept for packaging and dispensing lubricant designed to reduce landfill waste, increase productivity and reduce costs.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Melbourne Energy companies established in 1926 Motor oils Oil companies of Australia 1926 establishments in Australia