Sales of city buses (many electric) as replacement vehicles to those in fleet operation in Bogotá led to strong growth in the passenger vehicle segment in Colombia during January to March this year (2022), with 858 units delivered.

Caio reached the milestone of 600 units produced of the new generation of Apache Vip city buses, which started production in the second half of 2021 and is one of the brand's best sellers.

The top eight* South American markets for commercial vehicles (3.5t gvw and above) finished in 2021 with a total of 254,200 units registered, an increase of 42.2% over 178,800 vehicles registered in 2020.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil recorded a 77% growth in truck exports in 2021 compared with the previous year, shipping 8,026 units to countries in Latin America and overseas markets.

Mercedes-Benz do Brazil and Comil are developing city buses, comprising Comil's Svelto bus body mounted on Mercedes-Benz’s OF 1730 chassis, for export to the Gambia in west Africa, a first for the two companies

The Governor of the State of São Paulo, João Doria, presented at the end of March the Pró-Veículo Verde (Pro Green Vehicle) programme for the production of hybrid vehicles or vehicles powered by clean energy in the state, the objective of which is to attract up to BRA20bn (USD4bn) of investments in the next three years.

Marcopolo is delivering a total of 77 Senior Charter minibuses, which are being electrified by local company Reborn Electric Motors, to Chile's Renta Bus Link Services.

Hyvia, a joint venture between Renault Group and Plug Power based in Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, France, has inaugurated its plant at Renault Group’s manufacturing site in Flins, France. Hyvia states it is ready to begin assembly and testing of fuel cell modules based on Plug Power’s technology.

Starting in January this year, Mercedes-Benz do Brasil and Marcopolo have exported a total of 328 coaches and buses to charter fleet operators in Chile for transporting employees of several mining companies. 

Marcopolo, in its year-end report, for 2021 stated production at its factories in Argentina, South Africa and Mexico increased substantially from 1,535 units in 2020 to 2,451, an increase of 59.7%.

In the first quarter of this year alone, the city of Bogotá in Colombia has put into circulation around 558 new electric buses, a volume 500% higher than in the same period in 2021 and almost 450% higher than in the whole of last year.

The Chilean commercial vehicle market in the first quarter of this year (2022) again saw different performance outcomes for the truck and bus segments, with 3,898 truck sales and 398 bus and coach sales.