Volvo Trucks Corporation says the time is right for a rapid upswing in electrification of heavy road transport vehicles. This outlook is based on the ability of Volvo’s electric trucks to meet a broad variety of transport needs.

Iveco SpA of Turin, part of CNH Industrial NV, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Plus, a Silicon Valley, California, USA-based developer of autonomous trucking systems, to jointly develop autonomous Iveco trucks.

Seating specialist, Grammer AG of Ursensollen, Germany has agreed on another joint venture with FAW Group Corporation of Changchun, Jilin, China.

Axle specialist, SAF-HOLLAND GmbH of Bessenbach, Germany and British electric motor producer, Advanced Electric Machines Ltd are working together to develop the latest edition of the SAF TRAKr regenerative braking axle.

Advanced Electric Machines Group Ltd of Washington, a spin-off from Newcastle University's electric motor research team, which is commercialising its electric motors for industry, has unveiled its series of HDSRMs for commercial vehicles and SSRDs for light and passenger car motors, which it believes are the world’s most sustainable motors for electric vehicles.

Purpose-designed 16t gvw electric truck manufacturer for distribution services, Volta Trucks, which is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, has announced it is exploring the possible manufacture of the Volta Zero in Spain as one of several possible sites in Europe.

Truck manufacturer, Paccar Inc of Bellevue, Washington, and Aurora Innovations Inc of Eugene, Oregon have signed a global strategic agreement to develop, test and commercialise autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

Bosch Hydrogen Powertrain Systems (Chongqing) Co Ltd is the name of a new joint venture company, between Robert Bosch AG of Munich, and Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer, Qingling Motors Co Ltd of Chongqing, Chongqing Province. The new JV has been established to develop, assemble and market fuel cell power modules for the Chinese market.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil Ltda has launched a new high floor chassis model for the city bus BRT segment, the O500 R Super Padron.

Tyre giant, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and wheel-end specialist, Consolidated Metco, have announced a strategic collaboration to create combined digital solutions to provide operators better understanding of the health of their commercial fleet tyres and wheel ends.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has agreed terms to buy Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay, Ohio for approximately USD2.5bn.

Westport Fuel Systems Inc, the Vancouver-based fuel systems specialist has begun initial trials of a heavy-duty internal combustion engine running on hydrogen (H2) fuel, using its patented and proprietary High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) 2.0 system.