Mercedes-Benz AG of Stuttgart, Germany has announced the next generation eSprinter van is to be built, starting from the second half of 2023, at three of the company’s global locations in North Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde, Germany.

Spanish bus and coach bodybuilder, Industrial Carrocera Arbuciense SA of Arbucies, Gerona, has entered a new partnership agreement with Iveco Bus of Turin, Italy for the manufacture of a new range of low entry urban minibus to be marketed under the name Daily Access.

The BYD-ADL partnership for the British market is introducing additional electric bus charging options to improve operational flexibility. In addition to AC plug charging, all zero emission buses can now be specified with DC sockets, while double deck buses also have the option of roof-mounted connector rails for OppCharge pantographs.

Maxion Jantas has completed construction of the buildings and infrastructure of a new 21,000 sq m commercial vehicle steel wheel manufacturing plant in Manisa, Turkey.

In April 2021, Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus Ltda of Resende, Rio de Janeiro announced it would be starting series production of the e-Delivery within the first semester and that it will go on sale in the second half of the year through its main concessionaires across the country.

LIH, a division of Group I. Reidi & Cia Ltda of Cascavel, Paraná State, has bought the operational assets of Guerra S.A. of Caxias do Sul, which had been Brazil’s second largest trailer and body builder, until its bankruptcy in 2017.

DAF Caminhões Brasil Ltda has started production of its latest version of the CF tractor range at its plant in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil for both the on- and off-highway markets, as well as a CF rigid truck model, marking its entry into the rigid truck distribution segment in Brazil for the first time.

BYD and Marcopolo in March announced delivery of the first articulated electric bus to be made in Brazil to the city of São José dos Campos. The vehicle is to be used for city public transport as part of the Linha Verde project.

Iveco América do Sul Ltda at the start of this year announced it was hiring 478 temporary workers for its industrial complex in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais to expand commercial vehicle production to meet demand. This is in addition to 272 new employees hired in October last year.

The São Bernardo do Campo factory belonging to Mercedes-Benz do Brasil reached an historic milestone in March as it celebrated 50 years of manufacturing the OF front-engine bus chassis range.

The price of steel charged by producers in Brazil in the last 12 months has increased by almost 100%, according to Norberto Fabris, president of ANFIR - National Association of Manufacturers of Road Implements.

Volvo Trucks Latin America Ltda said it had hired more than 400 temporary employees in January taking its employee numbers to 3,800, slightly more than the 3,700 employed in January 2020, prior to the pandemic.