The Board of Directors of the Ministry of Education of the Brazilian Government, on January 6, 2021, has indefinitely stopped the competitive tender for the supply of 6,900 buses under the Caminho da Escola Program (Federal School Bus Programme).

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus in December 2020 passed an export milestone of 5,000 commercial vehicles delivered to Colombia; the official 5,000th unit to be exported was a Constellation 19,360 V-Tronic truck.

Brazilian bus body manufacturer Caio, in partnership with Volvo Group Mexico, has supplied 87 new low floor Euro VI city buses as part of a renewal programme of the Passenger Transport Network (RTP) fleet in Mexico City.

BYD Co Ltd has won an order to supply Bogotá with 1,002 9m and 12m electric feeder buses from Bogotá City Public Transport Authority, which sets a record for a single overseas order.

The Brazilian bus and coach manufacturing sector sold 18,219 units in 2020, a decrease of 33% from the 27,193 vehicles registered in 2019, according to FENABRAVE.

The new coach, which is designed for charter and tourism applications comprises the Mercedes-Benz O 500 RS 1836 rear engine chassis and Comil’s Campione Invictus body.

Trucks was the only vehicle segment to record positive results for 2020 in the Colombian automotive sector with sales registrations totalling 16,663 units, an increase of 7% compared with 15,577 units sold in 2019 according to Andemos.

Production of trucks in 2020 totalled 90,936 units, some 19.9% lower than that recorded for 2019 of 113,476, according to figures supplied by ANFAVEA.

According to data released by ANAC commercial vehicles sales totalled 13,272 units, down by 18.8% compared with 16,342 units sold in 2019.

The market for bus and coach chassis slumped badly in 2020 to register 13,931 units, a 33.4% reduction in sales on 2019 registrations of 20,932 vehicles, one unit more than 7,000 vehicles fewer.

In 2020, the Uruguayan market registered 1,748 new trucks, 12.4% more than the 1,555 units sold in 2019 and only 224 buses, 38.5% fewer than the 364 units sold in the previous year.

The Peruvian market reached sales of 12,909 heavy commercial vehicles, a decrease of 22.5% compared with 2019, when it registered 16,650 vehicles, according to AAP.