Truck sales in Brazil during the first quarter this year grew by 29.5%, 26,139 units compared with 20,160 units in the same period of 2020.

According to data from the National Association for Sustainable Mobility (ANDEMOS) of Bogotá, the Colombian commercial vehicle market ended the first quarter of 2021 with total sales of 6,856 heavy commercial vehicles.

According to data released by the National Automotive Association of Chile (ANAC) based in Santiago, sales of commercial vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 grew by 30.1% over the same period last year.

Data collated and analysed by ANFIR (National Association of Manufacturers of Road Implements) of São Paulo, reveals that, despite the pandemic, the market for road implements (trailers and truck bodywork) in the first quarter of 2021 finished with substantial growth.

Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles, trucks and buses of 10.5t gvw and above, in Argentina rose by 63.1% in the first quarter of 2021 to 3,984 units compared with 2,443 units sold in the same period of 2020.

According to data released by the National Association of Bus Manufacturers (FABUS) of São Paulo, Brazil’s bus production fell by 32.8% in the first quarter of this year, when 3,069 units were manufactured compared with 4,549 units in the same first quarter of 2020.

The South Korean market for medium and large buses and coaches is substantial, reflecting good public transport services and the extensive use of buses and coaches by private companies.

Sales of imported commercial vehicles, mostly comprising of heavy trucks, rose by close to 12% to 1,391 units in the fourth quarter of 2020 from strong year-earlier sales of 1,245 units, reflecting recovering international trade and a pick-up in investment.

Sales of domestic light commercial vehicles between 2-5 tons gvw in South Korea expanded by 2% to 48,711 units in the fourth quarter of 2020 from weak year-earlier sales of 47,752 units, resulting in a 2.6% drop in full-year sales to 194,791 from 200,021 units in 2019.

The South Korean market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw began to stabilise in the fourth quarter of 2020, with sales up slightly at 57,877 units albeit from a weak 57,225 units in the same period of the previous year, based on data from various industry sources.

The market for heavy-duty trucks over 16 tons gvw was the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, with international trade, fixed investment, mining sector output and construction activity all sharply lower.

The market for medium-duty trucks between 5-16 tons gvw continued to dive lower in the fourth quarter of 2020, by over 36% to 13,105 units after declining by more than 14% to 20,593 units in the same period of the previous year.