A truck wheel is easily taken for granted. In fact, its plain appearance and simple construction are the products of no less care and ingenuity than most any other part essential to the making of a truck. For Karl Rode, who is Director of Engineering for passenger car and commercial vehicle steel wheels at Maxion Wheels, the ingenuity emerges from the fine balance maintained between weight and strength.

The South Korean market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw declined by more than 5% to 59,190 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 62,497 units a year earlier.

The Philippine market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw declined by 10% to 30,656 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 34,131 units in the same period of the previous year, according to analysis of data from various industry sources.

The Malaysian commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw expanded by more than 5% to 22,217 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 21,050 in the same period of the previous year

The Indonesian market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to decline sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023, by 29% to 34,552 units from 48,636 units a year earlier.

The commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw expanded by 12% to 91,830 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 boosting annual sales overall.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, continued to deteriorate in the fourth quarter of 2023, with sales falling by more than 14%.

New energy commercial vehicles (NECVs), comprising mainly hydrogen, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, increased by 32% to 447,000 units.

The UK market for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs, i.e., trucks >6t) grew by 13.5% to 46,227 registrations in 2023, making it the best year for the UK truck market since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to statistics published by the SMMT.

The UK bus and coach market in 2023 grew by 44.6% to register 4,932 units, a promising level of growth which still remains below the pre-pandemic figure of 5,874 units (2019), according to statistics published by the SMMT.

The total number of city buses with alternative drivelines in European Union 27 countries plus the UK, Norway (NO), Iceland (ICE) and Switzerland (EU 27+4) totalled 13,466 units  comprising 6,354 electric buses (excludes trolley buses), 4,022 hybrid-electric buses, 2,883 CNG buses and 207, hydrogen (fuel cell) buses.

Bus and coach deliveries in Europe* reversed a three year downward trend in 2023 increasing by almost 21% (*Countries EU27+UK+ICE+NO+CH).