Industry bellwether: T&BB discusses results and outlook for 2025 with Maxion’s CCO Giorgio Mariani

By Bradley Osborne – 2nd September 2025

In Truck & Bus Builder’s “Global Truck Report 2007”, published just before the financial crisis and “great recession” of 2008, we claimed that “across the developed markets, the demand for trucks can often be seen as a leading indicator to inflexions in the overall economic cycle.” Whether or not the truck industry can really be taken as a bellwether of the global economy, the truck wheel, a commodity that exhibits inelastic demand – no commercial vehicle can run without wheels – is undoubtedly a reliable indicator of market trends within the industry. “Usually, when we see shifts – positive or negative – on the truck side, they serve as an early indicator of what’s to come in the market,” said Giorgio Mariani, chief commercial officer at Maxion Wheels and vice president of global purchasing at parent company Iochpe-Maxion. “A good example is when, immediately post-COVID, it was the truck segment which began the industry recovery.”

Ever lighter and stronger: T&BB interview with Maxion on the past, present, and future of steel CV wheels

By Bradley Osborne – 16th April 2024

Is fuel cell architecture the next step in the zero emissions road map for transit buses in North America? BAE Systems’ Greg Marx seems to think so

By Jim Gibbins – 30th January 2024