The Chilean commercial vehicle (truck and bus registrations combined) market continued to fall in the first quarter of this year, with 3,306 units sold, down 20.4% on the 4,156 units sold in the same period of 2023.

Four minibuses – Ford ‘E-Transit’ vans retrofitted with Perrone’s ‘TONY’ self-driving hardware – will transport passengers on a 10.8-mile route through the city of Detroit, connecting Michigan Central Station (set to reopen this June) and the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design.

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.

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 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.

Having announced its ‘E-Mobility kit’ in 2023 – a portfolio of advanced electric drives, auxiliary components and complete systems for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles – ZF says it plans to ramp up production from 2025 to meet demand.

The Malaysian commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw expanded by more than 5% to 22,217 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 21,050 in the same period of the previous year

The Indonesian market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to decline sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023, by 29% to 34,552 units from 48,636 units a year earlier.

The commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw expanded by 12% to 91,830 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 boosting annual sales overall.

Karsan is entering the Dutch market for the first time after signing an agreement to export two level 4 autonomous e-Atak electric buses in Q4 2024, to Rotterdam-based public transport operator RET (Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram).