VWCO Exports Grow 130% in First 4 Months of 2021

VWCO reported exports of 2527 trucks and buses from January to April 2021, versus 1084 units in the same period of 2020. Most of the growth came during April; the month was very negatively affected by the pandemic in 2020.

Source: Automotive Business      Read The Article

PSR Analysis: As with other OEMs, the export volumes of VWCO have been better than expected considering only Q1 2021 vs. Q1 2020, period without pandemic effect in 2020. During our forecast planning in Q4 2020, we expected a lower recovery of exports because of a slower recovery from the pandemic effects in 2021. However, the currency depreciation in Brazil, and special variables in each market caused the positive effect. PSR

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

Vehicle Production in Brazil Stagnates

During the first 10 months of 2023, Brazilian On Highway Vehicle production faced challenges, with an increase in imports of approximately 58,000 units from January to October and a simultaneous drop in exports by more than 52,000 vehicles. The outcome was a stagnation in production, as only 1,950,000 passenger cars, Minivans and SUVs, light commercial vehicles, trucks, and bus chassis were produced. This marked a decrease of 0.6%, equivalent to almost 12,000 vehicles, compared to the same period in 2022, as reported by Anfavea on Nov. 8, 2023.

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Volvo Penta: Sustainability First , Zero-Emissions by 2050

Sources: Volvo Penta Press Releases, IBI News, Boating, Trade Only Today

Natasa Mulahalilovic
Natasa Mulahalilovic

Volvo Group announced that the company will focus on sustainable solutions in all business areas, from trucks and buses through construction to its marine division. The group objective is to become a zero-emission company by 2050, at the latest.

As part of this changeover, the Volvo Penta division, the world leader in marine engine and propulsion systems, is cutting its outboard engines production and sales. This reverses a major acquisition the company made in 2017.

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Segway’s First Robotic Lawnmower Uses GPS To Stay in Your Yard

Since building a brand on self-balancing personal transportation devices, Segway has expanded its consumer product range to include e-scooters, go-karts and now, autonomous mowers

The Segway Navimow is like a Roomba for your lawn, except it’s different than most other robotic vacuums and mowers currently sold in one key way. Reports say that instead of requiring installation of a physical or a virtual boundary, the device uses GPS to stay on “precise position and systematic mowing patterns.” 

Users define the boundary and any no-go areas on a smartphone app, and the Navimow will maintain accuracy down to two centimeters. In the event of a weak GPS signal, the Navimow has sensors to keep it chugging along. The Navimow can move up a 45-degree incline. And because the motor is electric, it emits 54 db of noise—far less than a gas-powered lawn mower.  PSR

Michael Aistrup is Senior Analyst with Power Systems Research

2020 NA Utility Vehicle Production: 436,700

This article first appeared in the March 2020 issue of PowerTALK™ News

This is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Utility Vehicles to be produced in North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States) in 2020.

DataPoint

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.

Market Share: With combined plant totals of 32%, Polaris leads in production of utility vehicles in North America. Polaris has plants in Mexico and the US. In second position is Honda with 13%, followed by Deere with 12%.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell MH Commercial Vehicle Update

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

With regards to zero-emission medium and heavy vehicles, we have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks.  At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment? 

Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks.  However, hydrogen fuel cell trucks for long-haul applications appear to be a viable option in this segment.  Even though fuel cell trucks currently have a greater range and lighter weight than battery electric trucks, they have the same problem as electric trucks due to a lack of a power infrastructure.

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Mexico Beats Argentina for Brazilian Vehicle Exports

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

Mexico became the main trading partner of the Brazilian automotive sector in July, beating Argentina in 2023 YTD results. Brazil exports volume to Mexico are favorable because of a 33% growth in the Mexican domestic market. Brazil expanded its exports to the country by 142%, according to Anfavea.

Even with the help of increasing exports to Mexico, Brazilian exports had a significant reduction to 30,300 units, 27.6% below the same period in 2022, which totaled 41,900 units.

The Chilean market has shrunk by 30% this year, from 261,000 to 182,000 units compared to the first seven months of 2022. Purchases of vehicles made in Brazil decreased 61% in the period, from 41,000 to 16,000 units.

In Colombia, the domestic market fell by 60%, from 263,000 to 104,000 units, from January to July compared to the same period last year, and the presence of Brazilian vehicles fell 42%, from 47,000 to 27,000 units.

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Vehicle Exports from Brazil Grew 22% in January

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

With 25,000 units shipped in January 2021, exports of vehicles grow 21.9 % compared with January 2020 and 24.2% compared with December 2020.  The volume surprised ANFAVEA, which was expecting worse numbers because of the effects of the pandemic in the South American Countries, traditional destinations for Brazilian vehicle exports.

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PSR Analysis: This result is positive compared to our initial forecast of a slow recovery of South American countries. On the other hand, the production in countries such as Argentina and Colombia has been affected by a shortage of raw materials, creating an opportunity for imports from Brazil in these countries, even with lower demand.    PSR

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