Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, declined by almost 9% to 308,421 units in the second quarter of 2023 from 338,668 units.

Zita Zigan, Director, Global Commercial Vehicle Forecasts at GlobalData, in a webinar held at the end of June, provided a positive outlook for the global truck market in 2023, 2024 and beyond. Zigan, in her presentation, highlighted some of the many factors influencing different markets in Europe, North America and the BIC countries. Below is a summary of some of her analysis of the global truck markets.

Santa Monica-based consultancy and host of the ACT Expo, Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA), released its annual State of Sustainable Fleets report at the ACT Expo in Long Beach, California. In the report’s conclusion, GNA states that significant market and regulatory forces are creating a “perfect storm” that is driving the adoption of zero-emission vehicles across North America.

Under TMB’s “Strategic Plan 2025”, 100% of vehicle purchases by TMB will be low-emission vehicles, with 62% of them expected to be zero-emission.

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency concludes from the reports that significant portions of these segments are currently electrifiable, largely due to their use in repeatable routes that support overnight depot charging, reducing their dependence on sparce public charging infrastructure.

In a review of its home market, Ravia Automotive Co. (Ravia)1 of Tehran provides an insight into the CV markets in Iran and highlights the potential scale of the opportunity for foreign OEMs on resumption of commercial vehicles sales in Iran in the coming years.

The report finds that the technology in battery-electric terminal tractors currently on the market is “mature enough for fleets to be making investments” in them. 

CALSTART has recently published its annual ‘Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks’ report highlighting that, as of December 2021, there have been 1,215 ZETs (zero-emission trucks) deployed on US roads.¹ Crucially, however, CALSTART estimates that over 60% of ZETs deployed in the US are no longer operational. Consequently, the true number of active ZETs is much lower than initially suggested.

The total number of alternative drivelines in city buses in European Union 27 countries plus the UK, Norway (NO), Iceland (ICE) and Switzerland totalled 8,911 units accounting for 59.2% of total city bus registrations in 2021 of 14,990 units, according to market analysis by Wim Chatrou of Chatrou CME Solutions of The Netherlands.

Moscow hosted the Bauma СТТ Russia exhibition which was supported by more than 340 companies from 16 countries. In addition to specialist construction machinery, the show featured new heavy-duty tipper trucks from Russia’s traditional on-highway commercial vehicle builders.

The total number of alternative drivelines in city buses in Western Europe (+Poland) totalled 7,747 units accounting for 58.9% of total city bus registrations in 2020 of 13,140 units, according to market analysis by Wim Chatrou of Chatrou CME Solutions of The Netherlands.

‘China’s relaxation of foreign investment restrictions in auto industry (including lowering import tariffs on vehicles) will provide better access for international automakers to the world's biggest car (and commercial vehicle) market and provide a more level playing field for international automakers to compete with Chinese automakers.' - KWM