News: Commercial Vehicles

2020-09-27

Western Auto OEMs Seek Privileges for LNG Trucks

Move is opposed by Russian KAMAZ which plans to make similar machines.

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

Market players have proposed canceling import taxes and utilization fees for commercial vehicles fueled by LNG until 2025. The target of the measure is the development of LNG-transport until the appearance of domestic analogs of such machinery.

The suggestion comes from foreign makers of LNG on-highway tractors and supported by Gazprom. Now, no imported vehicles are exempted from these taxes.

The import tax for on-highway tractors is 5% of their cost, and the utilization fee is 10 to 12K Euro. LNG tractor is more expensive than its diesel analog by about 35K Euro.

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TAIWAN REPORT: First Self-Driving Bus on Three-Month Trial in Tainan

A month ago, the first self-driving bus operations begun its three-month trial in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan. It is the first revenue-generating service of autonomous rapid transit (ART) project supported by the central and local governments. The goal is to launch commercial operation across the country in 2021.

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

“Autonomous technology will lead a revolutionary change to the city’s transportation systems,” said Huang Wei-Cher, Mayor of Tainan. “The smart transportation initiative will help us improve overall road safety, operational efficiency, and rural area transportation services.”

The service will cover two business districts. One service will run on weekends only, on a 2.5km route between Nanke Railway Station and National Museum of Prehistory, while the other will be on weekdays in the 6.4km route along Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, where a smart vehicle testing site is located.

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2020-09-22

The Future of Commercial Vehicles. Perspectives for Brazil

Published in Automotive Business, August, 26, 2020

1. INTRODUCTION

The use of diesel in Commercial Vehicles and its alternatives has been studied and discussed globally over the past two decades. We have updated future trends annually based on the new platforms in our data and new models in development allowing us a 10-year horizon. In August 2019 we published an article on the subject for Automotive Business Brazil, which is now updating.

Carlos Briganti
Carlos Briganti

In the 2019 article we said that fossil diesel propulsion for commercial vehicles would be exposed to several alternatives and therefore the 20s decade would be a decade of significant changes, justifying yearly monitoring of the subject.

This whole range of studies was then impacted by COVID-19, a new event at the beginning of this decade that is another factor of change in this complex subject.

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2020-08-23

ANFAVEA Negotiates To Postpone PROCONVE P8 in Brazil

With the problems caused by COVID-19, ANFAEA is lobbying to postpone the introduction of PROCONVE P8 – an emissions regulation that will make the Brazil emissions level similar to Euro VI.

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

ANFAVEA argues that the postponement is needed because of delays in testing and engineering development caused by COVID-19. The level of investment necessary also has increased.

Source: Automotive Business     Read The Article

PSR Analysis:  The Brazilian government is not likely to approve the postponement and the deadline date of 2022 probably will be kept. It is important to Brazil to be current in terms of emissions as Brazil is a hub of production for South America, and the ability to export will be jeopardized if the level of production technology declines.  PSR

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

Production of Mercedes-Benz Actros Planned at KAMAZ Plant

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

Russian production of the clean on-road Mercedes-Benz Actros will start in November at the KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny plant. The new truck is being modified by Mercedes to meet Euro-6 standards. At the same time, German engineers are reworking the process of exhaust gases neutralization.

Russian production of Actros will allow Russian fleet-owners to purchase top-quality trucks without extra customs fees. The price and initial availability have not been disclosed.     Read The Article

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Kubota To Build Factory for Small CN Equipment in US

FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT

Kubota will invest up to US$ 93.9 Million (10 billion yen) by 2026 to build a factory for small construction equipment in the US. The company will manufacture crawler-driven models used for residential construction and other purposes locally to increase the production by 25%.

Akihiro Komuro
Akihito Komuro

With COVID-19, there is a movement of people moving from the city center to the suburbs in the US. Kubota expects that the demand for small construction equipment will increase in the regions where it has sales channels and aims to become the largest manufacturer in the US by increasing production. First, they will invest 5.6 billion yen (56 Million USD) to build a new factory in Kansas.

The company will start mass production of its “Compact Track Loader (CTL)” in September 2022. By 2023, annual production will reach 3,000 units. Depending upon demand, the company could be producing 5,000 units annually by 2026. Japan is producing about 20,000 of the same model. With the addition of 5,000 units from the United States, the total production will increase by about 25%.

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Taiwan Audi Teams with Noodoe To Create EV Charging Plan

To continue to promote the deployment of electric vehicles in Taiwan, Taiwan Audi officially entered the pure electric vehicle market at the end of 2019 and launched the “E-tron Future” reservation project.

Erik Martin
Erik Martin

To meet the pure electric future, Taiwan Audi has joined hands with strategic partner Noodoe to accelerate the deployment of Taiwan’s charging network. Evaluating home charging station installation and a cloud-based charging operating system paired with Taiwan Audi’s charging solution aims to realize a pure electric mobile life.

From north to south, Taiwan spans only about 500 kilometers.  At the same time, the main population centers are concentrated in the seven largest metropolitan areas. These cities–while clearly defined–are connected by a comprehensive road network that provides excellent advantages in the development of electric vehicles. Audi has been actively promoting the deployment of electric vehicles in Taiwan since last year. It is expected to introduce the first electric vehicle model ─ Audi e-tron – before the end of 2020 with a battery life of 417 kilometers (WLTP). Through the 150kW fast charge mode, it can be charged in 30 minutes to 80% power.

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How Does Market Brace for Low Speed EV Impact?

By August 12, after 20 days of product launch, SGMW’s MINI EV will hit a sales record of 15,000 vehicles, making it the world’s fastest car model reaching the threshold of 10,000 units.

Source: D1 EV      Read The Article

Qin Fen
Qin Fen

PSR Analysis: Consider BYD’s electric bus, SGMW’s MINI EV, as well as premium car brands like Tesla: These traditional and emerging automotive OEMs are reformulating rules of the auto game, with their own proprietary technology. 

As a matter of fact, it’s not just the automotive market that needs to brace for the impact of electrification, the off-road market also is trending toward electrification.  The changing markets include passenger car, light commercial vehicle, medium and heavy duty vehicle, forklift, and lawn mower. Will this wave continue to expand to other off-road applications?  How much more will it change the rules of the game?     PSR

Qin Fen is Business Development Manager for Power Systems Research

DATAPOINT: 2020 NA Off-Highway Truck Production Forecast Is 1,200 Units

The 1,200 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Off-Highway Trucks to be produced in North America (Canada and the U.S.) in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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Trucking News: Asking The Expert

Do you expect a sharp slowdown for truck purchases in October due to the possible resurgence of the Coronavirus this fall?

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

PSR Analysis: At this point, no.  The “shock and awe” of the pandemic appears to be well behind us.  During the past few months, commercial truck demand has stabilized albeit at a low level but continues to improve. 

Recent surveys have indicated that trucking conditions are improving.  The biggest threat to the health of the industry would be a further lockdown of the economy which would cause trucking conditions to slow but would not likely upend the market.  However, we do believe it will take a further 18-36 months for the economy to return to a pre-virus level.

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