Production, according to Silvio Furtado, vice-president of Solutions for Commercial Vehicles and Industrial Technology ZF South America, exceeds 100 units a day and that the factory has recently completed a production sequence of more than 32,000 transmissions without a failure.

Called Ruta Elétrica Andina the project proposes construction of battery charging stations along the Andean highway at intervals of every 200 km – initially the project is to run from Cartagena in northern Colombia to Ipiales, on the border with Ecuador.

O’Leary will remain a member of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck into 2026 after an impressive set of financial results and the successful delivery of major projects in the U.S.A.

A top-of-the-line Actros extra-heavy truck cabin in zirconium blue was used to celebrate this historic milestone with all employees at the factory in Minas Gerais.

Beginning in 2024, the company will integrate its batteries, battery software and auxiliary modules into the unnamed North American OEM’s electric vocational trucks.

Employing 250 skilled workers, the centrally located facility will support the efficient production and distribution of complete BEV heavy-duty trucks for the North American market.

Volvo Financial Services (VFS) América do Sul based in Curitiba, Paraná, is now 30 years old on the Brazilian market with managed assets in 2023 totalling BRA 22 billion (USD4.4bn).

The truck was driven by an internal combustion engine fitted with Westport’s ‘H2 HPDI’ system, which enables it to run optimally with hydrogen fuel instead of diesel.

Since its market introduction in 2003, 89,515 units have been registered, of which 85,461 are light trucks and 4,054 are medium trucks, which means an average of 4,475 units per year.

Launched in 2003, the company says the VM represents a watershed in Volvo's Brazilian operation. It was the brand's first semi-heavy vehicle in the country, being designed and produced exclusively in the Curitiba (PR) industrial complex, one of Volvo's main factories around the world.

The new distributor will be responsible for sales of all temperature control refrigeration unit models.

According to data from Bogotá-based Andemos (National Association for Sustainable Mobility) sales in year to September 30, 2023, fell by 35.3% to 19,444 heavy commercial vehicles compared with 30,060 units sold in the same period of 2022.