On Sept. 2, 2025, the biggest city in Americas with biggest bus fleet, started on the path to use of biomethane as fuel in the city’s public transport fleet and garbage collection vehicles. The initiative sets rules for fuel acquisition and introduces the gradual adoption of biomethane-powered vehicles. City officials emphasize that biomethane offers lower operating and acquisition costs compared to electric buses and avoids the need for large-scale charging infrastructure.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. plans to establish a regional headquarters in Chile to oversee and expand its operations in Latin America. The move shifts the focus from solely selling new machinery to localizing parts supply and service support, enabling faster responses to dealers and customers.
Following the end of its joint venture with Deere & Company in 2022, the company has been independently growing in the Americas, initially prioritizing North America. The decision for a Chile-based HQ reflects cultural and operational differences from North America, as well as Chile’s importance in the mining dump truck market.
Goiânia (GO) will become the first city in the world to operate a regular fleet of 100%-electric bi-articulated buses, as a result of a partnership between Volvo and GreenMob Capital. The fleet includes 21 Volvo BZRT buses—16 articulated (with a capacity of approximately 180 passengers) and 5 bi-articulated (with a capacity of about 250 passengers). These zero-emission, ultra-quiet vehicles are slated to serve the BRT Leste‑Oeste corridor within the RMTC system, with initial operations scheduled to begin by late August 2025.
GWM has brought its Hydrogen powered by FTXT truck prototype to Brazil for tests at its Iracemápolis (SP) plant, coinciding with the factory’s inauguration Aug. 15, 2025. The vehicle combines a 105 kWh battery with 40 kg of hydrogen in onboard tanks feeding a fuel cell, producing only water vapor. Tests will begin in September, assessing safety, performance, consumption, and adaptation to Brazilian roads, first unloaded and later with simulated cargo.
Deere & Company estimates that Brazil will become its second-largest global market within the next five to ten years, surpassing Europe in sales of tractors, harvesters, and other agricultural equipment.
The forecast is based on the expansion of Brazilian agricultural production, particularly soybeans, corn, and sugarcane. According to Cristiano Correia, Vice President of Production Systems for Latin America, “no other region shows a compound growth rate in grain production comparable to Brazil’s over the next decade.”
The Illinois-based company is holding its first Investor Day in Brazil in over a decade in 2025, gathering around 40 investors from North America, Europe, and Asia.
Deere projects a 27% increase in Brazil’s planted grain area by 2035 and expects corn-based ethanol production to double during the same period.
According to data from the National Association of Road Implement Manufacturers (Anfir), the trailer industry registered a 2.4% decline in registrations during the January–May 2025 period, totaling 60,495 units compared to 62,001 units in the same period of 2024.
The most significant contraction occurred in the heavy-duty segment—trailers and semi-trailers—which registered 30,304 units, reflecting an 18% year-over-year decrease.
Carlos Briganti, Managing Director South America Operations for Power Systems Research (PSR), participated in a major article on the future of diesel in trucks and buses in the March 2025 issue of AUTODATA magazine.
AUTODATA is a leading provider of technical information and software solutions for the automotive aftermarket. AUTODATA specializes in delivering up-to-date, manufacturer-verified technical information used for servicing, maintaining, and repairing cars, light commercial vehicles, and motorcycles.
A study by Power Systems Research published in the magazine notes that fossil fuel and its renewable variants such as biodiesel and HVO will dominate the cargo and passenger transport scene for many years to come.
As reported in AUTODATA, the PSR survey indicates that diesel, with small portions of a mixture of biodiesel and HVO, is now responsible for driving 99% of trucks and buses in Brazil, a percentage that drops to 94% in the European Union, 89% in the United States – and it is not because more low-emission alternatives are used there, but because 7% of the fleet is powered by gasoline. Another 3% run on natural gas and only 1% correspond to electric models. China is more advanced with 81% diesel, 10% gas and 9% electric. PSR
(Click the Read More» link to view the report in the full post.)
Heavy truck production in Brazil fell 3.7% in Q1 2025 versus the same period in 2024, totaling 16,700 units, according to Anfavea. The decline is attributed to high interest rates (Selic), which have limited fleet renewal despite a record grain harvest.
Heavy truck sales also dropped 7% in the quarter, with 13,000 units registered.
OEM Performance – Heavy Trucks: Volvo: 3,900 units sold (+4% YoY); Scania: 3,500 units (−17%), and Mercedes-Benz: 2,100 units (−13.5%)
Despite the contraction in the heavy segment, total truck production grew 8.2%, reaching 31,700 units. The Medium-duty truck segment production was 8,900 units (+28.5%) and the Light-duty truck production was 4,500 units (+10%)
Vehicle exports from Brazil grew by nearly 41% in the first quarter of 2025. Brazil automotive industry shipped 115,600 units abroad, compared to 82,200 vehicles during the same period in 2024. Only in March, 38,900 vehicles were exported, up 19% year-over-year.
The increase was boosted by higher export volumes to Argentina, which accounted for 58% of Brazil’s vehicle exports in Q1 2025. A total of 67,630 vehicles were sent to Argentina— up 120% from the same period last year.
FPT Industrial has partnered with Agrale to supply the N60 CNG engine, powered by natural gas and biomethane, for the MA 11.0 GNV chassis. In Latin America, FPT increases it presence in the gas-powered bus market, supplying urban transport systems with low-emission engines that support decarbonization and air quality improvements while reducing CO₂ emissions.
AUTODATA Power Systems Research 
