He will succeed Ralph Acs, who took retirement on 1 April.

The Polish company sold a total of 1,456 vehicles in 2023, of which 82% were fitted with alternative drivelines, according to figures reported during an online press conference in March.

The company has several patented features making up its bellows and towards the end of this year it will bring to market its new articuated chassis system for buses.

Daimler Buses has set itself a range of ambitious targets for 2030, including achieving an adjusted return on sales of nine percent by the end of the decade and eight percent by as early as 2025 (2023: adjusted return on sales of 4.7%). Overall, the business segment is set to become more lean and therefore profitable in order to shoulder the investment into electrification.

The funding is being allocated to the government’s Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA, now ZEBRA 2) Scheme, initially launched in 2021 to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding for zero-emission buses and supporting infrastructure.

Due to the next-generation battery technology supplied by Polish battery company Impact Clean Power Technology, ADL has increased its “warrantable energy throughput” of its next-gen electric buses (Enviro400EV and Enviro100EV).

The first vehicle is being tested over 2,500 kilometres on the streets of Plzeň, after which it will be delivered to the customer later this year.

This has been made possible through the rollout of telematics hardware and constant software updates to its global digital platform on all of its vehicle brands. These services are offered through Mercedes-Benz Trucks Uptime, Fleetboard or OmniPlus in Europe, Truckconnect in Asia and Detroit Connect branded solutions in North America.

Vietnam’s commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2023, by over 16% to 14,877 units from already weak year-earlier sales of 17,766 units.

The Thai commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw plunged by 37% to 68,295 units in the fourth-quarter of 2023 from 108,498 units a year earlier.

The South Korean market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw declined by more than 5% to 59,190 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 62,497 units a year earlier.

The Philippine market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw declined by 10% to 30,656 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 34,131 units in the same period of the previous year, according to analysis of data from various industry sources.