The top eight* South American markets for commercial vehicles (3.5t gvw and above) finished in 2021 with a total of 254,200 units registered, an increase of 42.2% over 178,800 vehicles registered in 2020.

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. 

The share of the market held by battery-electric and plug-in electric vehicles in 2021 across the LCV, truck, and bus segments was 3%, 0.5%, and 10.6% respectively.

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.

According to IHS Markit, Volvo Trucks achieved a 42% share of the electric truck market in Europe, with 145 vehicles under the Volvo brand having been registered in 2021.

Bus sales increased by 7% to 4,928, but remain well short of the pre-pandemic sales of 5,449 and 17,480 recorded in 2019 and 2013 respectively.

The UK subsidiary of the Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer gave an update on the performance of the S-Way and Daily, while the SMMT discussed the effects of component shortages on vehicle production.

The paper, published in Nature Electronics, argues that hydrogen technology is unlikely to play a major role in decarbonising heavy-duty vehicles, as the development of battery-electric technologies could soon render fuel-cell electric vehicles "superfluous".

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw fell by almost 15% to 84,410 units in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 98,836 units a year earlier, based on data released the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). 

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2-tons gross vehicle weight (GVW) in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2021, by almost 3% to 368,495 units after falling by 10% to 378,493 units in the third quarter, according to data compiled by www.AsiaMotorBusiness.com from numerous industry sources. 

Vietnam’s commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw resumed its recovery in the fourth quarter of 2021, with sales rising by 9% to 23,144 units from a reasonably strong 21,201 units in the same period of the previous year, according to AsiaMotorBusiness.com analysis of data from the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA). 

Sales of pickup trucks surged by 32% to 9,855 units in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 7,487 units in the same period of the previous year, resulting in a 29% rise in full-year sales to 25,325 units from 19,697 units in 2020.