News: Commercial Vehicles

2021-06-27

Protests Affect Columbia Vehicles Market

Sales of vehicles in Colombia were affected by protests and roadblocks in May. Because of the protest, dealers were closed and vehicles are blocked at the ports of Cartagena and Barranquilla. Even with the reduction from April to May, when 14,700 units were sold, below the 18,000 in April, the YTD result in 2021 is 50.2% better than 2020.

Source: AutoData     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The recovery of the Colombia economy, seen in light of the vehicle market, is faster than expected, even with the continued health crisis due to the pandemic and the social and politic problems. For the full year, there is a significant amount of uncertainty with a bias for increase in the forecasts.    PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development, South America, for Power Systems Research

Goods Transported in Brazil Increases in 2021

From January to April, the amount of total of goods transported in Brazil was R$ 2.9 trillion, while in the same period of 2020 it was R$ 2.1 trillion, an increase of 39%. This metric is used as a baromometer for the Brazilian economy.

Source: M&T     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: This result is aligned with what we see in the sales of new trucks and trailers and confirms our increase in FY 2021 sales and production. Part of the increase is due to inflation in local currency, but part is due to good results in Agribusiness and Mining. Other segments of the economy have had a lower increase because of COVID19 if compared with 2020, when the uncertainty in March and April had a higher impact than in 2021. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development, South America, for Power Systems Research

Mercedes Grows in EV Bus Market

Emiliano Marzoli
Emiliano Marzoli

While smaller players are struggling to remain competitive in the EV bus space, Mercedes-Benz is targeting more clients and more volumes. 

Mercedes-Benz has handed over one eCitaro G electric articulated bus with solid-state batteries each to Hamburger Hochbahn and Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein.  The two new electric articulated buses each have seven battery packs with solid electrolyte and an energy content of 441 kWh, allowing up to 200km range, depending on operational conditions. 

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Edge Computing Brings Data Closer To Home

John Krzesicki
John Krzesicki

It’s often said that there’s nothing new under the sun, only new ways of doing old things. That may be especially true in how we handle data.

Ever since Power Systems Research began tracking global production of engines and powertrains in 1976, its analysts have been alert to new trends surrounding power and data movement.

Today, as three essential metrics in data handling change— cloud costs, volume and processing time—, the structure of data networks also is changing. In many cases, it’s not practical to send vast amounts of data to the cloud to be processed and then wait for the results. Now, it’s often necessary to have smaller data centers located near the activity, at the edge of the action, if you will.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck Happenings in Europe

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

We have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks.  At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers, but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment? 

Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks. 

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2021-06-19

CTT Bauma Moscow Shows Growing Optimism in Russian Construction Market

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

The CTT Bauma trade show is main event of construction industry in Russia. Since 2017 it’s owned and operated by Messe Munich. The show was conducted this year in Moscow May 25-28 in its usual place, the Crocus Expocenter. Last year, the fair was off because of the COVID pandemic, but this year we saw that both the exhibition and construction industries are showing a growing trend. The fair’s indoor exposition was restored to three pavilions, and the outdoor exposition also grew in size versus 2019. There were 351 exhibitors from 17 countries, somewhat better than last time. A total of 184 brands were represented.

Here is, however, one unpleasant factor. Most of the international OEMs did not participate in the fair this time. Wirtgen, Volvo, Cummins, Caterpillar, Ammann, Hyundai, Renault, Komatsu machines were missing from this fair. John Deere, Doosan, Kato, and some other brands were limited, having only small booths, set by the local dealers. Many Russian machine makers, who usually participate in the fair, also ignored the event. Among them – GAZ, Chetra, DST-10, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, YAMZ.

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2021-05-24

GAZ Increased LCV Production by 19% in Q1 2021

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

The GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod has made 11,300 LCVs in Q1 2021, according to the Trade Ministry of Russia. That’s 18.7% higher than the same period of last year. HD truck production by the GAZ Group increased by 29% in Q1 2021, from 1,700 to 2,200 units.

In total, according to the Russian Statistic bureau “Rosstat”, production growth of Russian on-highway vehicles increased by 13.7%. OEMs have made 402,800 units. LCV output has grown by 37.7%, trucks by 27.1%, and passenger cars by 12.1%.

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PSR Analysis: Statistics show that now we are seeing the realization of pent-up demand, which is especially active for commercial vehicles. For passenger cars, this process is also visible (four times sales growth during April), but already it is coming to an end, and after few months we can expect to see negative figures in this segment.    PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant-Russia Operations for Power Systems Research

Parched Taiwan Prays for Rain as Sun Moon Lake Hit by Drought

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

TAIWAN — Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake is so low that parts of it have dried and turned to grass. Jetties that normally float are sprawled awkwardly on dry land, and tour boats are crowded at the tail ends of pontoons still in the water.

Usually one of the island’s most famous tourist destinations, the lake has recently become a star of a different kind. Following the worst drought in 56 years, it is now famous for all the wrong reasons. These days, Instagram influencers photograph themselves posing in a dust-colored, dinghy half-buried in a cracked and cratered lakebed…

But away from the quirky headlines, the situation is dire. Other reservoirs across central and southern Taiwan are effectively empty, down to 5% or less.

Taiwan has had drought before, but observers are hoping the severity of this one – which has lasted 18 months and threatens Taiwan’s economic lifeblood of semiconductor production – is enough to prompt real action on climate change.

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Müller Launches Rigid Off-Highway Truck MDT430 in Brazil

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

The Brazilian group that acquired Randon Veículos, the division of Randon group that produced OH Trucks and Construction Equipment, at the end of 2020 launched the first model under the Müller brand. It has a 350 HP Turbo Intercooler produced by Scania and an Allisson Automatic Transmission.

Source: M&T     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Whether lucky or visionary, Müller is well positioned to produce positive results in coming years. While mining activity in Brazil is growing with record commodities prices and public bids for new exploration areas are expanding, competitors are mostly imported and suffer from exchange rate effects. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business, Development-South America, for Power Systems Research

VWCO Exports Grow 130% in First 4 Months of 2021

VWCO reported exports of 2527 trucks and buses from January to April 2021, versus 1084 units in the same period of 2020. Most of the growth came during April; the month was very negatively affected by the pandemic in 2020.

Source: Automotive Business      Read The Article

PSR Analysis: As with other OEMs, the export volumes of VWCO have been better than expected considering only Q1 2021 vs. Q1 2020, period without pandemic effect in 2020. During our forecast planning in Q4 2020, we expected a lower recovery of exports because of a slower recovery from the pandemic effects in 2021. However, the currency depreciation in Brazil, and special variables in each market caused the positive effect. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director, Business Development-South America, for Power Systems Research