DAF Caminhões Brasil Ltda has started production of its latest version of the CF tractor range at its plant in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil for both the on- and off-highway markets, as well as a CF rigid truck model, marking its entry into the rigid truck distribution segment in Brazil for the first time.

DAF Caminhões Brasil has launched a new off-road tractor unit in its new CF range, the chassis has been fully reinforced to handle severe off-road applications such as sugarcane and timber operations and offering gross train weights of up to 125 tons.

BYD and Marcopolo in March announced delivery of the first articulated electric bus to be made in Brazil to the city of São José dos Campos. The vehicle is to be used for city public transport as part of the Linha Verde project.

Iveco América do Sul Ltda at the start of this year announced it was hiring 478 temporary workers for its industrial complex in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais to expand commercial vehicle production to meet demand. This is in addition to 272 new employees hired in October last year.

The São Bernardo do Campo factory belonging to Mercedes-Benz do Brasil reached an historic milestone in March as it celebrated 50 years of manufacturing the OF front-engine bus chassis range.

Volvo Trucks Latin America Ltda said it had hired more than 400 temporary employees in January taking its employee numbers to 3,800, slightly more than the 3,700 employed in January 2020, prior to the pandemic.

Iveco Bus Argentina together with its distribution network, Ivecam S.A., has delivered 80 Eurobus buses to the Ministry of National Security of Buenos Aires.

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus has announced that four of its extra heavy-duty VW Constellation truck models are to be fitted with the new 12-speed V-Tronic ZF Traxon transmission for sale in export markets from April this year.

The bus and coach chassis segment maintained a downward trend and decreased 16.3% in the first quarter of 2021, with 845 units exported. Bus and coach exports have been in a downward spiral since 2019 and compared with two years ago the exports have shrunk by almost 60%.

In the first quarter of 2021, Brazilian manufacturers saw truck exports soar by 91.2% to 5,276 units, up from 2,759 units in the same quarter in 2020.

Truck production in Brazil maintained an upward trend in the first quarter this year, despite the assembly lines being forced to shut down towards the end of March and has continued to the second week of April.

Production of coach output slid by 67% during the first quarter as the market for commuter, tourism and long-distance coach travel dried up.