Last year Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus announced plans to allocate BRA110m million (USD27m) to make the necessary adjustments at its Resende (RJ) plant to tailor its production lines to begin assembling electric trucks as soon as 2020.

MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd has opened a new state-of-the-art dealership in Gateshead just two miles from the A1(M) north/south motorway for providing support for the complete range of MAN vehicles, ie trucks, vans, buses and coaches.

The Krone Group (a producer of agricultural equipment and on-road trailing equipment (ie commercial vehicles - containers and container chassis, swap bodies and semi-trailers)) last month released record figures for Group operations for the year ending July 31, 2019.

Volvo Group Venture Capital AB, the Volvo Group’s business unit focused on investing in technologies to advance the transportation sector, has made an investment in Apex.AI, a leading software company in autonomous mobility.

Lion Electric Company, the Quebec Government and six other industry partners have announced a major project to initiate electrification of heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Transport group, Keolis, having already established full electric bus rapid transport systems in several French cities, has inaugurated the first 100% hydrogen fuelled BRT system using eight 18m fuel cell powered articulated vehicles from Van Hool in the city of Pau.

‘Road’ was the name of a collaborative project with refrigerated trailer specialist, Jean CHEREAU SAS, four industrial partners and some institutional partners initiated to develop the reefer semi-trailer of the future: It was a three year project representing an investment of EUR5.5m that this has resulted in a four new products or areas of improvement for the Avranches-based company.

SAF-Holland GmbH has opened its new production plant in Yangzhou.

Tata Steel Europe is now manufacturing an abrasion resistant steel called Valast 450 specially developed for the construction industry involving rugged applications such as tipper bodies for trucks and trailers, bodies on refuse collection vehicles and excavator buckets.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems, a manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engine retarding and valve actuation systems, has shipped its first engine brake from its newly opened European facility, near Brno.

Hydraulic crane and hook-loader specialist, Hyva Global BV recently opened its new service and maintenance workshop in Apeldoorn.

ION Energy, a recent start-up company, specializing in battery management systems and energy diagnostic solutions, has been engaged to supply its technology to another relatively new company in France, IBS Technologies.