MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd has opened a new state-of-the-art dealership in Gateshead just two miles from the A1(M) north/south motorway for providing support for the complete range of MAN vehicles, ie trucks, vans, buses and coaches.

Presenting a year-end overview of its performance in the markets of the UK and Ireland, James Charnock, commercial vehicle and services director at Renault Trucks UK, said while political uncertainty surrounding Brexit had driven some pre-buy activity this year, the result had been overall market growth in the medium and heavy-duty (MHD) truck sector with 47,000 registrations at the end of November – up 14% on 2018, exceeding expectations. 

The Mercedes-Benz Vans Dusseldorf plant started series production of the full electric Sprinter on December 12.

The Competence Center for Emission-Free Mobility has now been the pilot factory for vehicles with alternative drive systems for 25 years, the automotive giant, Daimler AG, announced last month.

Lion Electric Company, the Quebec Government and six other industry partners have announced a major project to initiate electrification of heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The Volvo Group and Isuzu Motors Ltd have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the intent to form a strategic alliance concerning commercial vehicles.

Peterbilt Motors Company and Dana Incorporated announced at the CES event in Las Vegas this month their collaboration on electric powertrain development for the Peterbilt Model 220EV battery electric vehicles.

Colorado-based Lightning Systems, a developer of zero-emission drivetrains, has raised USD41m in equity, debt and working capital funding from existing and new investors.

Global demand for trucks started to weaken in the second half of 2019 and this trend is set to continue in 2020 and 2021, stated Zita Zigan, director of global commercial vehicle forecasting at LMC Automotive Ltd.

November saw the name of the Workhorse Group’s next generation electric delivery vehicle change to the C1000; this EDV was previously known as the Workhorse N-GEN.

DAF Trucks NV has revealed a new version of its CF Electric model in the form of a 6x2 rigid truck (28t gvw) chassis.

FPT Industrial, the powertrain division of CNH Industrial, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with battery producer, Microvast, aimed at an industrial and commercial co-operation to enable FPT Industrial to design and assemble battery packs in-house, at its facility in Turin, which would be then be offered on CNH Industrial vehicles and to third-party customers.