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Brazil Heavy Duty Trailer Sales Remain High
The Brazil Heavy Trailers sector continues its upward trend in registration, with a 5.6% increase in sales during the first seven months of the year, compared to the same period in 2023.
According to data from the National Association of Road Implements Manufacturers (Anfir), 89,880 units were registered between January and July.
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2024 MHCV Production Expected To Decline by 1.6%
GLOBAL REPORT
Chris Fisher In 2024, medium and heavy commercial vehicle production in Europe, South Asia and North America is expected to decline modestly while production in China, South America, Japan and Korea is expected to improve over last year.
Globally, medium and heavy commercial vehicle production is expected to decline by 1.6% this year over 2023. Moving into 2024, much of the focus on demand is centered around slowing global economic conditions that will likely impact overall freight demand.
North America. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle production is expected to decline by 4.3% this year over 2023 after strong class 8 truck production last year was driven by on-going pent-up demand. While class 8 demand is expected to decline this year, it will still be at a relatively high level, especially during the first part of the year.
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Brazil Truck Production Grows Significantly
BRAZIL/SOUTH AMERICA REPORT
Brazil truck production reached almost 64,40 units in the first half of this year, an increase of 36.5% over the same period in 2023
In June, 12,200 trucks were manufactured, a 74.1% increase compared to the same period last year.
Heavy truck sales also grew. In the first six months of this year, 56,800 trucks were sold, an increase of 8%. Last month, 10,000 trucks were sold, a 26.6% increase compared to June 2023.
Source: Automotive Business Read The A…
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Diesel Demand Hits 26-Year Low
US diesel demand plummeted to its lowest seasonal level in 26 years in Q1 2024. The production of distillate, the petroleum-based fuel that powers trucking, heating, and heavy industry, plunged to 3.67 million barrels per day in March (down from more 4.1 million barrels last year) according to monthly data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Even in diesel-loving Europe, the diesel engine is dying. Volvo, for example, recently built its last-ever diesel vehicle, and companies like Nissan, Hyundai, and Daimler (parent company of Mercedes-Benz and the Freightliner and Rizon truck brands) have also backed away from developing new internal combustion engines.
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North America and Europe MHCV Alternative Power Update
Chris Fisher As the governments of Europe and North America (U.S. and Canada) continue to push for a transition from fossil fuel powered vehicles to zero-emission vehicles, a number of significant barriers to adoption will continue to hamper this initiative.
Significant barriers to adoption of zero-emission vehicles include the total cost of vehicle ownership, a lack of charging and grid infrastructure, truck resale values and duty cycle issues. The primary types of alternative propulsion that are in focus include Battery Electric, Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Hydrogen ICE engines and to a lesser degree, Natural Gas and Biodiesel ICE engines. The vast majority of the medium and heavy commercial vehicle industry support the transition to zero-emission vehicles but the short timeline for implementation is causing great concern throughout the industry.
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Volvo To Build Truck Plant in Mexico
GLOBAL REPORT
Chris Fisher In April 2024, Volvo announced that it will build a heavy-duty truck manufacturing plant in Mexico to supplement the Group’s U.S. production. The plant will provide additional capacity to support the growth plans of Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks in the U.S. and Canadian markets, and support Mack truck sales in Mexico and Latin America. The plant is expected to be operational in 2026.
The new plant will be approximately 1.7 million square feet in size, and will focus on production of heavy-duty conventional vehicles for the Volvo and Mack brands. It will be a complete conventional vehicle assembly facility including cab body-in-white production and paint. At the time of this writing, Volvo has not announced the location of the new production facility.
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Bosch China Establishes Commercial Vehicle Group
CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao Bosch Powertrain announced the establishment of a commercial vehicle group, aiming to strengthen cross-domain cooperation at the same time it introduced a new electronic pneumatic braking system and intelligent mobility solutions for commercial vehicles at the 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition.
Bosch also has developed an advanced super thermal management system to address the thermal management challenges in the commercial vehicle industry. Bosch says it is optimistic about the development prospects of hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles and is actively promoting the adaptive development and promotion of related technologies.
During the Beijing Auto Show, Wang Weiliang, the President of the Board of Bosch Intelligent Transportation Solutions China and the President of Bosch Powertrain Systems China, announced Bosch’s significant strategic initiatives for this year. Wang Weiliang said that China, as the world’s largest commercial vehicle market, is in a golden era of booming development for the commercial vehicle industry.
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CATL, Yutong Launch Long-life EV Battery
CATL has launched a battery pack with Yutong Bus Co to power commercial vehicles like buses and trucks. Yutong said the new battery packs will be used in upcoming electric vehicles and that the new long-lasting EV battery has zero degradation through the first 1,000 cycles.
The new EV battery pack, made with CATL, has a 932,000 mile (1.5 million km), 15-year warranty. Yutong calls the long-life battery an industry first. The bus manufacturer introduced another battery with a 10-year and 621,000 mile (1 million km) lifespan.
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A New Path for Van Hool
EUROPE REPORT
Emiliano Marzoli Brussels, Belgium – After weeks of uncertainty and, finally, a bankruptcy, bus and trailer manufacturer Van Hool can look to the future again. The company trustee has accepted the bid from the competitor VDL – Schmitz-Cargobull. This move was seen by the trustee as the quickest and most efficient way to restart the operations without losing additional company value, and important resources.
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Volvo To Begin Testing Heavy EV Trucks
Volvo has received authorization from the Ministry of Transportation to begin testing its heavy electric trucks in Brazil. The vehicles will be part of a study and will be able to operate in urban areas, metropolitan regions, and short to medium-distance intercity transportation, aiming to evaluate their performance and impact on pavement in this type of operation.
The transport companies ReiterLog and Ritmo Logística will be the first to operate the Volvo electric trucks. Preliminary results from the study, led by Senatran (National Traffic Department), with technical coordination from Inprotran (National Institute of Traffic and Safety Projects), in partnership with Volvo, Prometeon, UNB, and UFRGS, indicate benefits of operating zero-emission CO2 vehicles, such as high energy efficiency, absence of noise, low vibration levels, and increased driver comfort.
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