Brazil’s School Bus Program Postponed

Initially scheduled to begin Sept. 12, 2023, the auction of the federal program “Caminhos da Escola” was postponed indefinitely. A new date has not been set. The new stage, which provides for the purchase of 163,000 buses was eagerly awaited by chassis and body manufacturers, would have been delayed until 2024 because of the time needed for the production.

The reason is technical: according to the bidding notice published at the end of last month, important chassis manufacturers as Volvo and Merecedes would be excluded from the bidding process due to new certification demanded.

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GM Resumes $2 Billion Investment Program in Brazil

After freezing all investment last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, GM is now resuming its investment program of 10 billion of Brazilian Reais, equivalent to US$ 2 billion. The program funds new vehicles, infotainment systems, as well as modernization of the plants in Sao Paulo state.

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PSR Analysis: GM has kept and amplified their market leadership position in Brazil. In 2020, they moved into second place. Their continuous investment on new products and productivity has been recognized by the market.   PSR

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

Rostselmash Increases Investment Program More Than 40%

Rostselmash, the largest Russian AG machine maker, during the period into 2024 will increase investments for production development from US$ 275 million to US$ 390 million (19.9 billion Rubles to 28.5 billion Rubles, respectively).

Initially, the transmission plant was scheduled to make 90,000 gear units per year, but as soon as the plan of tractor production was corrected, planned output of the transmission plant was increased to 150,000 gear units per year. Also, three new painting lines were added.

In the beginning of September Rostselmash started building a new plant in Rostov-Don. It will make tractors, road construction and communal machines. The new plant will make 5,000 machines per year.

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PSR Analysis: With the increased harvest in Russia, increased prices for grain and the remaining State support program, Rostselmash has increased resources for a larger investment program. However, another reason for increasing investment is the growing inflation, which requires additional spending.    PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant – Russia Operations for Power Systems Research

MEGURI2040: The Fully Autonomous Ship Program

FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

The Nippon Foundation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group company Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and Shin Nihonkai Ferry Co., Ltd. have successfully completed a demonstration test of the world’s first fully autonomous ship navigation systems on a large ferry, conducted on the Iyonada Sea from Shinmoji, Kitakyushuu City, in January.

This demonstration was part of MEGURI2040, a fully autonomous ship navigation project launched by The Nippon Foundation in February 2020.

Japan’s declining birthrate, aging population, and shrinking population have resulted in labor shortages in many fields. Seafarers in coastal shipping, which requires hard work on board, are no exception. More than half of the seafarers in coastal shipping are over 50 years old, which poses a major challenge.

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Subsidy Program for Scrapping Diesel Vehicles Ineffective

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

About half of those who received South Korean government aid to scrap their old diesel vehicles early have purchased diesel vehicles again, according to a new study. The government spent 845.4 billion won (about 79.6 billion yen) in the last five years (2016-2020) to scrap 959,000 aging diesel vehicles, but the number of all diesel vehicles increased by 9% during the same period. The government has pointed out that diesel vehicles are the main culprit of particulate matter such as PM2.5 and has implemented a policy to “eliminate” them, but this policy has not been effective.

There is subsidy support if old diesel cars are scrapped depending on the level of emissions in operation. In addition, there are additional subsidies if you buy an eco-car or a gasoline/LPG car.

If old diesel vehicles with a gross weight of less than 3.5 tons are scrapped early, they can receive up to 6 million won (about 570,000 yen) in subsidies. According to data from the Ministry of the Environment, 48,757 people in the Seoul metropolitan area purchased new cars in the first half of last year after receiving subsidies to scrap their old diesel vehicles. However, of the cars purchased by these people, 21,686 (44%) were diesel vehicles. Moreover, 15,990 of them were used diesel cars, 2.8 times more than the number of new cars (5,696).

Source: Chosun Online

PSR Analysis: It is hard to say that this is a flaw in the system, but the reality is that this system has not achieved its purpose and has produced the opposite effect. The reason for this situation is simple: many of the users of trucks under 3.5 tons are small businesses, and considering their expenses, they do not choose gasoline vehicles, and new vehicles are not an option, so they choose used diesel vehicles.

EVs and fuel cell vehicles, which are now being widely reported, are attracting attention as vehicles equipped with next-generation technologies. However, especially in the case of commercial vehicles, the high initial cost is frowned upon. The market should take another look at the fact that inexpensive vehicles that can easily demonstrate their contribution to business will be selected. PSR

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

2019 North American Commercial Vehicle Show (NACV)

Power Systems Research had a booth presence at the 2019 North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) show that took place at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, Oct. 28-31, 2019.

The NACV featured a “Technology Showcase” where many of the leading OEMs and supply chain companies put their latest market introductions on display.  There were over 500 exhibitors at the show – assembled in both Exhibition Hall A and Exhibition Hall B of the World Congress Center. 

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Power Systems Research Sees Strong Commercial Vehicle Demand Continuing

OEM Off-Highway recently interviewed Power Systems’ Chris Fisher for their OEM Industry Update podcast. Here we present it with their permission

This week on OEM Industry Update we speak with Chris Fisher, Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst, Power Systems Research, about the current state of the North American commercial vehicle market. He says truck demand continues to be strong and is expected to remain so through 2022 and possibly even into 2023. Inventory stocking and solid growth in single family housing are among the factors positively impacting the market. 

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:13 Sarah Jensen:

Welcome to OEM Industry Update; a weekly podcast examining the latest news and technology trends impacting product development teams and the heavy-duty on and off highway equipment Industries. I’m Sarah Jensen, editor of OEM Off Highway and in this week’s episode I’ll be speaking with Chris Fisher, Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst at Power Systems Research, about the current state of the North American commercial vehicle market. Let’s take a listen now:

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PM Launches Vehicle Scrappage Policy

Aditya Kondejkar

Vehicles will not just be scrapped by their age, but also if they are found to be unfit in automated testing. The vehicle scrappage policy will bring in investments of around INR 10,000 crore to set up 450-500 Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and 60-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF) across the country.

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PSR Analysis: Under the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization program (VVMP), the government plans to set up between 450-500 automated vehicle fitness testing stations across India on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis involving private firms and state governments. A total of 60-70 vehicle scrapping centers will also be built; these stations will be situated no further than 150-200 kilometers away from any location in India. A total of seven agencies – including Tata Motors – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government today for this project. Tata Motors’ vehicle scrapping center will be set up in Gujarat, will scrap both passenger and commercial vehicles and will have the capacity to recycle up to 36,000 vehicles a year.

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