Japan’s market for light commercial vehicles (between 2.0-4.5 tons gvw) fell by over 13% to 49,514 units in the fourth quarter of 2021, with sales affected by the covid resurgence in the second half of the year and by the resulting global shortages of semi-conductors. Full-year sales were just slightly lower at 230,968 units after a 13% decline to 267,007 units in the previous year.  

The Indonesian market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter of 2021, with sales rising more than 60% to 47,210 units from a depressed 29,423 units a year earlier, based on AsiaMotorBusiness.com analysis of industry data. 

Sales of pickup trucks increased by over 13% to 15,002 units in the fourth quarter of 2021 after declining by 17% to 13,227 units in the same period of the previous year, as the economy continued to rebound from sharp declines in 2020. Full year sales were up by almost 20% at 48,101 units following a 41% decline to 40,187 units in 2020. 

Ford Motor Co, based in Dearborn, Michigan, has started shipping the first models of the all-electric E-Transit to its Ford Pro commercial customers. Ford has already received orders for more than 10,000 units of the E-Transit which it says have come from over 300 different customers.

Sales of LCV goods carrier (truck) vehicles (gvw ≤ 7.5t) fell by 8.5% to 127,213 units in Q3 of FY 2021/22 from 139,041 units in same period of FY 2020/21.

Faurecia of Nanterre, France has acquired a controlling interest (79.5%) in family-owned automotive electrical lighting specialist, Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA of Lippstadt, Germany.

Renault Trucks will launch the enhanced Trafic range in various European markets in the hope of benefiting from the boom in e-commerce and last-mile delivery.

EV retrofitter and manufacturer Lightning eMotors Inc, based in Loveland, Colorado, has announced it has been chosen to supply Winnebago Industries Inc, based in Forest City, Iowa, with an electric powertrain for its motorhome concept.

General Motors Corporation subsidiary BrightDrop has announced that it has signed an agreement with superstore giant Walmart to reserve 5,000 of its EV600 and EV410 electric delivery vans. The first vehicles are expected for delivery in 2023.

The SMMT reports that the UK market for LCVs below 3.5t grew by a fifth, while that for rigid LCVs between 3.5-6t shrank by 11.4%.

Panasonic OneConnect will be integrated with Tropos Motors' ABLE line of vehicles, providing a range of fleet management features.

The P7 modular platform is designed to serve as a Class 3-5 commercial vehicle, with its fully-flat chassis providing a maximum payload of 8,800 lbs.