News: Commercial Vehicles

2021-02-26

PowerTALK™ News, February 2021

Chris Fisher, senior commercial vehicle analyst at Power Systems Research, provides a forecast in the February 2021 issue of PowerTALK™ News for MHV. 

Here are more articles in this issue:

  • North America: Electric Motorcycles
  • DataPoint: Global Snowmobiles
  • Europe: Volvo Penta Plans Zero Emissions
  • South America: Brazil Vehicle Exports Up 22%
  • Taiwan: Innovation Powers Gorgoro Network
  • Japan: Honda Launches Electric Bike
  • South Korea: Hyundai Offers Custom EVs
  • Indonesia: New Tesla Investment?
  • India: Union 2021 Budget Misses Mark
  • Russia: KAMAZ Plans EV Buses

2021-02-23

KAMAZ Intends To Double Production of Electric Powered Buses

In 2020, NEFAZ, a subsidiary of KAMAZ, made 202 electric buses. In 2021, it plans to double the production of this innovative transport.

Today, in Moscow has 400 working KAMAZ electric buses, half of which were supplied during 2020. “We can make machine, which became tech leader on domestic market. We could enter Moscow passenger transport market. It changes the scale of the business and our respect to own product,” says KAMAZ general director Sergey Kogogin.

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Union Budget 2021 Misses Mark for Autos

Aditya Kondejkar

The Union Budget 2021 is very important since it comes during an unprecedented pandemic. The most significant pain points of the economy are the lack of demand and liquidity. The shrinking market’s impact and the weak demand is evident after the Economic Survey said that the country would experience a current account surplus for the first time in 17 years.

The automotive industry is the key stakeholder of the country’s economy. It suffered extensive sluggishness in the past 10-12 quarters after introducing GST, the new safety norms, insurance regulations, axle, and emission norms. These led to a hefty increase in purchase costs. The industry was waiting for direct announcements to reduce purchase cost and improve customer sentiment

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Honda Launches Electric Bike for Business

Honda announced the “GYRO e:” and “GYRO CANOPY e:” as planned commercial models of electric three-wheeled scooters for business use that use replaceable batteries. The new models will be marketed as the Honda e: Business Bike series together with the BENLY e: business electric two-wheeled scooter, which has been sold to corporate customers since April 2020.

The GYRO series will be used in many business applications such as deliveries. The GYRO series is a three-wheeled model with one wheel in the front and two in the rear to increase stability, and there is also a “CANOPY” model with a roof and wipers that can handle a little rain.

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Vehicle Exports from Brazil Grew 22% in January

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

With 25,000 units shipped in January 2021, exports of vehicles grow 21.9 % compared with January 2020 and 24.2% compared with December 2020.  The volume surprised ANFAVEA, which was expecting worse numbers because of the effects of the pandemic in the South American Countries, traditional destinations for Brazilian vehicle exports.

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PSR Analysis: This result is positive compared to our initial forecast of a slow recovery of South American countries. On the other hand, the production in countries such as Argentina and Colombia has been affected by a shortage of raw materials, creating an opportunity for imports from Brazil in these countries, even with lower demand.    PSR

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

2021-02-22

Truck News: Ask The Expert

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

What changes do you see in the PSR Truck Production Index in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of 2020?

Overall, we are seeing stronger momentum for commercial truck orders and sales which bode well for production in Q1 2021.

Supply chain issues will impact short term production as companies are still having difficulty with staffing numbers and various virus protocols that disrupt production. These problems are expected to continue throughout at least the first half of the year.

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2021-01-25

Semiconductor Shortage Forces Automobile Production Cuts

Aditya Kondejkar

Officials at Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and Nissan all say they have been hit by the shortage and have been forced to delay production of some models in order to keep other factories running.

A widening global shortage of semiconductors for auto parts is forcing major auto companies to halt or slow vehicle production just as they were recovering from pandemic-related factory shutdowns.

“This is absolutely an industry issue,” Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin said in an email. “We are evaluating the supply constraint of semiconductors and developing countermeasures to minimize the impact to production.”

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Italy’s CNH and China’s FAW in Talks Over Truck Maker Iveco

CNH Industrial is in talks with China’s FAW over the future of truck maker Iveco, the Italian-American group said recently after sources told Reuters it had revived previously aborted negotiations.

Source: Reuters    Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Another positive development in the industry during such a gloomy crisis, FAW fits the merger success story I just mentioned about the few surviving companies.  There are for sure many challenges ahead with the acquisition, particularly after the take-over, but there are so much to celebrate if the deal can be finalized.

Both Europe and China are investing in each other’s market, Scania, MAN, Daimler and Volvo are all setting up new factories or strengthening ties with current partners in China. 

And now we see FAW is putting their focus in the European market by engaging with Iveco.  Both sides have seen potential growth on one another’s market.  European truck makers will bring along new concept and technology to China’s market and likes of FAW will bring along cost saving and localization practices for its European counterparts

This is another sign that Chinese companies are moving more and more of their focus on the overseas markets, we will only see more of this coming in the future.  PSR

Qin Fen is Business Development Manager-China for Power Systems Research

VW To Build $3 Billion EV Plant in East China

Jack Hao
Jack Hao

VW China has increased its share in the electric vehicle joint venture JAC Volkswagen to 75% and obtained joint venture management rights. At the same time, it has obtained a 26% stake in the EV battery maker Gotion High-Tech to support the future electrification of the group. The total investment of the above two projects is estimated to be about €2 billion.

The plant, which has an estimated investment of US$3.06 billion (20 billion yuan) from both Volkswagen and JAC Motors, will be finished by the end of 2022, and its first vehicle will roll off the assembly line in 2023.

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