Westport has agreed to sell its light-duty interests, including its OEM and independent aftermarket businesses, to a Dutch investment firm for USD73.1m.

Westport said that it and its ‘Cespira’ joint venture with Volvo would “continue to collaborate” with Weichai.

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, and with offices in Gothenburg, Sweden and Brescia, Italy, Cespira was formed by the two companies to commercialise Westport’s high-pressure direct injection technology.

The truck engines will be fitted with Westport’s high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) system, using compression-ignition to deliver power and range comparable to a conventional diesel.

Sceli takesm over from interim CEO and Chairman of the Audit Committee, Tony Guglielmin. 

The prototype truck, which hauled a full trailer in the Swedish town of Älmhult, was installed with Westport’s ‘H2 HPDI’, a high-pressure direct injection system which allows an internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen.

The truck was driven by an internal combustion engine fitted with Westport’s ‘H2 HPDI’ system, which enables it to run optimally with hydrogen fuel instead of diesel.

Tony Guglielmin, Chairman of the Audit Committee, will act as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

The joint venture, which will make use of Westport assets and intellectual property, will receive an initial USD28m investment from Volvo, giving it a 45% stake.

Westport executives David M Johnson, Scott Baker, and Charlie Ker spoke to T&BB about the 'H2-HPDI', which enables a diesel combustion engine to run effectively on hydrogen fuel - reducing emissions by up to 98%.

In 2022, the Canadian manufacturer of gas engines made USD305.7m, a 2% fall compared to revenues (USD312.4m) reported in 2021.

Westport has committed to investing up to USD10m a year over the next decade to support the construction and development of the new site, which it will undertake together with the local authority.