Hendrickson claims that, compared to mechanical suspensions on the market, the elastomeric Ultimaax is up to 250 kilograms lighter.

Duvenbeck will receive its first vehicles from MAN in 2024 and will take further deliveries through 2026, which will make it one of the first customers to acquire the new truck model.

The existing plant size has been expanded by about a third and now covers 41 hectares: the extension comprises a 32,000-square-metre hall for cab production and a 10,000-square-metre hall for truck modification and final assembly.

Mobileye will supply its autonomous driving hardware along with its ‘Road Experience Management’ real-time mapping software which uses dynamic roadmaps to inform the autonomous vehicle’s decision making.

Alongside the 100,000-milestone announcement, MAN said it is now offering a rear-wheel drive option with single tyres and automatic transmission, targeted especially to customers requesting a special body on the chassis.

Some of the new options - including blind spot detection and driver monitoring systems - address safety issues which all new vehicles will need to account for when new EU regulations come into effect in July 2024.

The MINGA project will put a battery-electric ‘Lion’s City E’ bus, installed with autonomous driving technology, on bus route 144 through the Olympic Park in Munich, with a driver onboard for supervision.

The new laboratories will be jointly managed by MAN and two institutes of higher education: the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) and the Technical University of Nuremberg Georg Simon Ohm (“Ohm”).

Four prototype trucks were tested for their overall energy management, the cooling and thermal management of the batteries, and the effect of temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius on powertrain components and charging.

Once it is outfitted with equipment, the factory will employ more than 160 people, who will be engaged in producing an internal combustion engine platform for new vehicles sold under Traton’s brands.

48 ‘Lion’s City 12 E’ buses are set to be delivered to Hamburg in late 2023/early 2024, with more to potentially follow as per the terms of the framework agreement signed by the two companies.

The company announced the appointment of Barbaros Oktay to the new role of Head of Bus, replacing Rudi Kuchta in the leadership role of MAN’s bus division.