News: Commercial Vehicles

2020-10-28

Hyundai Plant in St Petersburg To Reduce Production by 15%

Hyundai plans to reduce annual production by 15% at its St Petersburg plant, according to plant director A. Kossack. As he notes, production volume at the plant has dropped significantly this year: in H1 2020, the plant produced only 73,000 cars, 25% of its production capacity.

Taking into consideration September’s output of 24,000 cars, total production volume through the end of the year should reach about 200,000 vehicles, almost 15% below the 2019 results. The plant has just returned to a three-shift working schedule. During the post-quarantine period, the plant working on a two-shift basis, making 700 cars per day. 

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PSR Analysis: It appears that the most pessimistic forecasts for the passenger car market to drop 40-50% are not going to be realized. Despite this outlook, Hyundai remains positive about the Russian market, and plans to start engine production here in 2021.    PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant, Russia, for Power Systems Research

Yanmar To Analyze Data on Agricultural and Construction Equipment

Yanmar Holdings announced it will begin operating Yanmar Synergy Square, a support base for monitoring the operational status of customers’ agricultural and construction equipment, beginning Oct. 19, 2020.

Data will be collected and analyzed via communication from sensors installed on machines and equipment. It will suggest parts replacement and maintenance before they malfunction. It was built at a cost of 2.5 billion yen (23.8 million USD) and will be operated by Yanmar Global CS, a subsidiary of the company.

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TADA Raises US$5 Million To Enter EV Tuk Market

Singapore-based MVLLabs, the operator of car dispatch service TADA, has raised US$5 million. MVLLabs is a company that operates a mobility ecosystem based on the blockchain protocol. TADA, a no-fee car dispatch platform built on MVL’s blockchain, launched in Singapore in 2018.

In 2020 they are also expanding into Cambodia and Vietnam. MVLLabs plans to use the funds raised to facilitate continuous expansion and further develop the mobility ecosystem.

According to them, mobility data such as transactions, journeys, accidents and vehicle maintenance are recorded and connected within a single MVL ecosystem. Users can interact with the MVL ecosystem on the blockchain through connected services such as TADA and other upcoming services. Operating in Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam, TADA has over 50,000 drivers and more than 500,000 users.

Source: BRIDGE (The original article was partially revised by the author.)

PSR Analysis: Unicorn companies in Southeast Asia have been raising large amounts of capital. Tech companies are solid. They are cleverly combining sophisticated business strategies with promotion to attract investors.

There has been a noticeable trend in the past for foreign companies with huge capital to invest in Southeast Asia, and the Southeast Asian governments have also been eager to attract factories in the region in anticipation of this. But now, in addition to that trend, homegrown companies are making their presence felt by challenging the local market. As COVID-19 is bringing globalization to a standstill, the trend of local companies growing as a local economic base will accelerate further.

Three-wheeled taxis with various names such as Tuk, Bajaj, Tricycle, etc. can be found in many cities in Southeast Asia. For example, there are about 22,000 registered tricycle taxis in Thailand. In the Philippines, there are an estimated 2.5 to 3 million tricycle taxis. However, air pollution due to exhaust emissions and noise pollution due to engine noise are two of the main problems, and there are calls for the adoption of EVs as a solution to these problems.

Several companies have carried out test deliveries of EV Tuk Tuks, but there have been a number of breakdowns in the past because of exposure to heavy rain during the rainy season. It will be interesting to see what strategies companies with no previous experience in vehicle development will adopt to enter this field, where durability is strongly demanded. PSR

Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research

Iveco Sets Record Sales of NG Trucks in Argentina

After selling 35 NG Trucks in Chile, Iveco announced the sale of 100 Stralis NP Cursor 13 NGs in Argentina for a supplier to O&G industry in the Southern country.     

Source:    Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The acceptance from customers helps to remove a barrier to NG sales, transforming this technology from a Trend to a reality. NG was formerly more deployed in Buses than in Trucks. With the experience of fleet owners, the technology will gain scale rapidly in South America countries and accelerate the volumes in South American markets. PSR

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

Brazil Extends Trade Agreements with Mexico and Paraguay

Brazil recently published two trade agreements with Mexico, and, earlier in July, with Paraguay. The Mexican agreements cover Commercial Vehicles trade, with the reduction of import taxes progressively reaching zero by 2022. The agreement with Paraguay covers auto parts taxes from country to country. The taxes are now between 0 and 2% and will be zero in 2022.

Source:     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The agreement with Paraguay is beneficial to auto parts makers on both sides of the border and helps to fight Asian competitors. With Mexico, the installed Truck Industry in Brazil is likely to expand exports to Mexico in coming years. PSR

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

Scania Creates Bridge To EU 2030 Emissions Targets

Emiliano Marzoli
Emiliano Marzoli

Scania, a Swedish truck manufacturer, is developing an 18-meter long solar cell-clad trailer that will be able to generate energy from devices along 140m2 of surface area on the sides and roof. 

According to the truck manufacturer, the powered trailer will be able to generate fuel saving between 5% and 10% in northern Europe, and up to double that in sunny regions like Spain.  The tests are also validating the use of the trailers as power stations to feed the main grid, once they have completed charging the batteries and the vehicle is stationary.

Source : Read The Article

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Bus Fleets Convert To Zero Emission Vehicles

During the past few years, many cities and states have committed to full adoption of their transit bus fleets to zero-emission vehicles.  While the implementation dates vary, most are aiming to have the transition completed by 2040. 

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

Since transit buses typically have pre-defined routs and access to recharging infrastructure, they are good candidates for adoption.  It also helps that this segment is not-for-profit, and a short-term payback is not required.  The significant barriers to adoption appear to have been overcome. 

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2020-10-23

Global Recovery: Opportunities and Challenges

SUMMARY. The global economy, especially within the Engine, OEM and Components industries, has felt the immediate impact from COVID: assembly line shutdowns, labor issues, supply chain issues, logistics and transportation to name a few.  The pandemic has exposed many weak links in the global economic chain. However, by end of summer, most of these challenges were either completely resolved or temporary solutions had been put in place. 

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Diversification has become the theme during the pandemic recovery, and we expect this trend to continue.  Not only are companies looking for new markets and suppliers to grow top and bottom line revenue as well as to minimize risks, but we see a shift into new industries.  Furthermore, rapid developments of new technologies create massive opportunities for OEMs and suppliers as well as posing real threats to OEMs that solely rely on traditional products that are powered by fossil fuels. 

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2020-10-19

HDMA-PSR Webinar Report

HDMA-PSR Webinar/Richard Anderson Survey 10.14.2020Download
HDMA-PSR Pulse-Webinar 10.14.2020Download

Power Systems Research produced a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) that provided the outlook for commercial vehicle production in North America and Europe during Q4 2020 and 2021. 

Download the presentation by PSR representatives Chris Fisher, senior commercial vehicle analyst, and Emiliano Marzoli, senior business development manager-Europe. A member survey by HDMA’s Richard Anderson also is available for download here. PSR

2020-10-12

HDMA Presents Pulse Webinar with PSR

Providing 2021 Forecast on Global Production of Commercial Vehicles

Power Systems Research will produce a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) providing the outlook for commercial vehicle production in North America and Europe during Q4 2020 and 2021. 

Hope you can participate. During the session, we’ll present important information that updates the North American comments we made in our COVID-19 Impact webinar in June. The HDMA Pulse Series Webinars provide suppliers with the information needed to make decisions in today’s rapidly changing business environment. 

The webinar will be held Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 1:00pm – 2:00pm EDT.

Space is limited, so please register as soon as possible using the REGISTER NOW button on the HDMA website at www.hdma.org. If you are not a PSR Client or HDMA Member, an individual registration is $100.

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