Hyundai Motor Launches ‘Wage Half Price Plant’

For the first time in 23 years, a finished car plant has started operations in South Korea. The operator is Gwangju Global Motors (GGM). This unfamiliar company was established under the leadership of the city of Gwangju in southwestern South Korea, with Hyundai Motor taking a stake, to specialize in contract manufacturing of small cars. The city of Gwangju, which aims to attract industry and create jobs, and Hyundai Motor, which wanted a plant where production can be outsourced at a low cost, coincided in their intentions.

The site area of 455,000 square meters is lined with three buildings: a pressed car body factory, a painting factory, and an assembly factory. Inside the assembly plant, which measures 340 meters by 140 meters, eight colorful car bodies flow smoothly down a three-dimensional production line.

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Hitachi Construction Machinery Raises Product Prices

JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Komatsu will continue to raise prices substantially in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. This will be at the same level as the current fiscal year. The impact of price increases on consolidated operating income is estimated to be in the range of 100 billion yen.

This is approximately 20% of operating income for this fiscal year. Although the impact of high raw material prices will lessen in the next fiscal year, there are concerns about an economic slowdown. While the benefits of the yen’s depreciation will diminish, they will build a profitable structure to further increase the operating profit margin from less than 13% in the current fiscal year.

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VinFast Launches Two EVs, Announces US HQ and Manufacturing Plant

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

VinFast has selected Los Angeles as its US headquarters and recently shared plans to begin manufacturing in the U.S. in 2024. VinFast is the automotive manufacturing subsidiary of VinGroup, a Vietnamese conglomerate that develops everything from real estate to technology and healthcare. The VinFast subsidiary was founded in 2017.

VinFast is working to deliver its flagship EV, the VF e34, later this year in Vietnam. When that happens, it will be the first-ever EV sold in the entire Vietnamese market.

Last month, we reported that VinFast was ambitiously entering markets overseas, beginning with the US, Canada, and Europe at the same time.

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Toyota Launches India’s First Flex Fuel Hybrid

INDIA REPORT 

Aditya Kondejkar

Toyota has launched  the Corolla Altis, India’s first flex-fuel engine. This car will be able to run on petrol or ethanol as well as electric power. It is part of a pilot project developing Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles in India.

Source: Hindu Times    Read The Article

Because of the great diversity in India’s consumer population, especially its per-capita income disparity, and multiple applications of vehicles, India might not use one technology but might use a combination of technologies involving various fuel types.

The Indian market can’t simply shift from petrol/ diesel engines to EVs over the next few years. Hence, many OEMs are working on CNG/ hydrogen/ hybrid vehicles.  Toyota has launched this new vehicle for the Indian market as part of these efforts.

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Honda Launches Electric Bike for Business

Honda announced the “GYRO e:” and “GYRO CANOPY e:” as planned commercial models of electric three-wheeled scooters for business use that use replaceable batteries. The new models will be marketed as the Honda e: Business Bike series together with the BENLY e: business electric two-wheeled scooter, which has been sold to corporate customers since April 2020.

The GYRO series will be used in many business applications such as deliveries. The GYRO series is a three-wheeled model with one wheel in the front and two in the rear to increase stability, and there is also a “CANOPY” model with a roof and wipers that can handle a little rain.

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MWM Launches Family of NG Engines

MWM Engines and Power Gen, part of the Navistar group, has announced the launch of a new line of Acteon Engines powered by Natural Gas. The engine family has been developed in Brazil and features 4 cylinders and 6 cylinders with 4.8L and 7.2L displacement.

Source: Automotive Business     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: With this move, MWM meets Power Gen customers demand or NG powered Gen Sets and increases portfolio to attend OEMs aiming to launch NG powered vehicles and equipment without investment in Engines Development. As NG becomes a competitive and cleaner fuel alternative for Brazil, MWM put the bets on the right place to attend better the customers demand. PSR

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

Brazilian Marcopolo Launches H2 Bus in Australia

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

Brazilian-based Marcopolo has expanded its product line of renewable and zero-emission fuels. Volgren, a company owned by the Brazilian manufacturer, is Australia’s largest bus producer. It has signed an agreement with Wrightbus, an Irish bus manufacturer, and market leader with Hydrogen technology in Europe, to develop and launch hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses for the Australian market.

The first units of the Volgren-Wrightbus are expected by early 2023. The vehicles will be the first Hydrogen buses in Australia to be built by a local manufacturer using European fuel cell technology.

Source: Press Release     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Marcopolo is committed in its strategy on new propulsion, either with their own EV chassis in Brazil or with the H2 chassis in other markets, such as the Volgren in Australia. It enables Marcopolo to compete better in growing markets while it keeps its position in ICE markets with its current products.    PSR

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

In 2025, China’s Construction Machinery Electric Drive Products May Reach 25%

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Electrification has become one of the important directions of green development within China’s construction machinery segment. Domestic construction machinery leaders have increased the development of equipment electrification and have launched a variety of electrification products.

Some professional organizations predict that by 2025 the penetration rate of main products may reach 25%. The electrification of construction machinery initially replaces conventional diesel engine drive with electric drive and then the hydraulic device is replaced by an electric device. Concrete mixers, truck cranes, muck trucks, excavators and wheel-loaders are the most easily electrically driven products, especially for small construction machinery.

Source:  CLS     Read The Article

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KAMAZ Launches First Dump Truck Sharing Service

The KAMAZ truck sharing service works on the classic vehicle sharing model. The company provides a ready-to-use vehicle; the client just needs to fuel it. Optionally, the client can rent the truck with the driver.

It’s possible to take a truck for a period of one day up to one year. The fleet available for rent includes modern dump trucks KAMAZ-65801 up to 32 ton capacity, which is one of most popular models on the market.

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20-Year Changes in Top Construction OEM Hierarchy

A new animated chart shows the dramatic changes in the evolving hierarchy of the biggest construction equipment manufacturers over 20 years. The chart draws on data from International Construction’s Yellow Table, which tracks the top 50 construction OEMs across the world. The data stretches back to 2003, and up until the latest version in 2022.

Source: International Construction: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: This animated chart is especially interesting in that it allows you to track the growth of up to half a dozen big Chinese OEMs who have grown among the top companies.    PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research