Positive sales of medium and heavy rigid trucks (7.5t gvw and above) in India of the first quarter continued into the second, realising growth of 165.8% in the first half (1H) of FY2021-22 to register 70,917 units compared with 26,677 units in same period of 2020-21.

Tractor sales in India increased by 526.5% during the half of FY 2021-22 to register 8,884 units compared with 1,418 units in the same period of the previous year (1H/FY 2020-21). Tractor production increased by 595.6% overall from 1,384 units to 9,627 units and export sales up by 1161.8%.

The figures record a 1.8% increase following a 35.1% decline in production in the previous month.

Despite the year-to-date performance in the bus and coach sector showing growth with 10,938 units sold, a 10.8% increase over the same period of the previous year, September sales came in at 847 units, a drop of 33.1% from the 1,273 units licensed in August and -30.8% compared with sales of 1,234 units in September 2020.

Production of trailer and truck bodies in Brazil during the third quarter of 2021 totalled  44,132 units, an increase of 22% over Q3 2020, according to ANFIR.

Truck sales grew by 112.1% in the first nine months of 2021 over the same period of the previous year, with 24,090 units sold (compared to 11,334), according to ANDEMOS.

Bus and coach sales in Colombia saw a 24.1% decrease to register 1,547 in comparison with 2,037 with the previous year, according to ANDEMOS.

The Argentine commercial vehicle market closed the first nine months of 2021 with the sale of 11,608 units, marking an increase of 50.8% over the same period in 2020, according to ACARA.

Mercedes-Benz Brazil predicts that bus and coach sales in Brazil in 2022 could reach 18,500 units, an increase of 35% above the 13,000 vehicles estimated for 2021.

Brazilian bus and coach production grew 12.1% in the first seven months of 2021, with 11,857 chassis produced, according to Anfavea.

Production of trucks and buses grew by 84.6% in the first nine months of 2021 (132,867 units over 71,959 in the same period of the previous year), according to data released by Anfavea.

In Chile, 11,780 trucks were sold from January to September, an increase of 68.3%, while bus sales totaled 1,279, down 38.6%, according to ANAC.