Competition in the Philippine light truck and bus market has intensified significantly in recent months with the launch of the Isuzu Traviz and the return of the Mitsubishi L300 at the end of September.

Tata Steel Europe is now manufacturing an abrasion resistant steel called Valast 450 specially developed for the construction industry involving rugged applications such as tipper bodies for trucks and trailers, bodies on refuse collection vehicles and excavator buckets.

“In five years, i.e. by 2025, we will no longer have available diesel trucks from 7.5 tonnes up to 26 tonnes,” stated Rémi Lemoine, responsible for alternative solutions at Volvo Trucks France, at Solutrans 2019 in Lyon last month.

The Irizar ieTruck, developed by Irizar Group's eMobility division in conjunction with Municipal Services giant, FCC Medio Ambiente Company, won the Innovative Idea category at the 2019 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona last month.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems, a manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engine retarding and valve actuation systems, has shipped its first engine brake from its newly opened European facility, near Brno.

Three months’ on from the strategic and exclusive heavy-duty truck partnership signed between CNH Industrial NV and Nikola Corporation, the partners, in Turin this month, announced it was now giving maximum priority to the development of its European business.

Nikola is now the new brand name for heavy-duty battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell tractor units from Iveco in Europe.

Hino Motor Sales Australia Pty Ltd has noted a high uptake of Allison’s fully automatic transmission (Allison 3200 series 6 speed with electronic control) being specified in its medium-duty Hino 500 Series truck sold in Australia.

At a capital markets day held in mid-November, executives at Daimler AG announced radical restructuring to transition the company to a carbon neutral future.

Electric truck builder, Workhorse Group Inc, has entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement with Lordstown Motors Corporation - a private corporate entity founded by former Workhorse CEO, Steve Burns.

The UK’s first Volvo I-Shift Dual Clutch equipped Volvo FM rigid has been delivered by Volvo Trucks UK Ltd of Warwick.

Independent trials of two 26-tonne, 6x2 Mercedes-Benz Econic refuse collection vehicles equipped with the Allison Transmission 3000 Series 6-speed fully automatic gearbox, retrofitted with Allison’s latest FuelSense 2.0 software, has produced fuel savings of 8.85% according to Scottish local authority, Fife Council, which undertook the study.