The 85% quoted is, 85% vertical integration. 85% of a Crown is designed by, manufactured by, and built by Crown employees. They manufacture their own motors, drive units, cylinders etc..
As far as propaganda goes, everybody does it. All the majors buy each others trucks and tear them apart to see what makes them tick and how to break them. Every large player I know of has pamphlets describing how much better they are than the competition.