South Korea’s commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw continued to grow in the second quarter of 2021, with sales rising by 5.2% to 64,525 units from 61,344 in the same period of last year, based on data released individually by vehicle manufacturers and trade associations.

Vietnam’s market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw bounced back by almost 41% year-on-year to 20,026 units in the second quarter of 2021 after declining by 23% to 14,211 units in the same period of last year.

The Thai market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw plunged by over 34% to an estimated 94,255 units in the second quarter of 2021 from 70,151 units in the same period of last year.

The electric powertrains from Lightning eMotors will be fitted in up to 7,500 Class 4 and 5 buses over the next four and a half years.

Domestic sales of light duty buses and coaches(GVW 7.5t or less) surged by 399.7%, increasing to 4,297 units in Q1 2021-22 from 860 units in the first quarter of the previous financial year.

Electric vehicle maker, BYD Co Ltd of Shenzhen, China, which has been actively working for more than seven years in Brazil demonstrating the benefits of 100% electric vehicles for society and the environment has now achieved sales of more than 50 all-electric vehicles (minibuses and city buses) supplied to different operators and cities in Brazil.

The Iskandar Regional Development Authority of Malaysia in March said its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project would likely cost MYR2.5bn (USD600m) and is expected to become operational in 2023.

Sales of light-duty passenger vehicles (7.5 tons and below) fell by 73.6% in the fiscal year 2020-21 (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021) to 12,078 from 45,814 units in the previous fiscal year and from 52,170 units two years ago. Exports also fell dramatically by 61.8% to 1,641 units in 2021. Production experienced a decrease in output of 65.8% to 15,475 year-on-year from 45,291, and from over 55,000 in 2018-19.

India - Sales of light-duty passenger vehicles (7.5 tons and below) in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020-21 (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021) fell by 54.3% to 4,652 units from 10,170 in the same quarter of FY2019-20.  Exports fell by 37.2%  to 733 (1,168) and production fell sharply by 50.2% to 5,688 (11,429).

Domestic sales of medium and large buses and coaches (7.5t gvw and above) fell by 56.1% in the fourth quarter of financial year 2020-21 (January to March) to register just 4,744 units, down from 10,810 units in Q4/2019-20. Total bus and coach production also fell sharply during the fourth quarter by 54% to just shy of 5,000 units (10,763). Total exports decreased by 38.7% to 1,211 vehicles from 1,974 units in Q4/2019-20.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) had issued draft notification amendments to mandate installation of fire detection and alarm systems in all new school and intercity buses throughout the vehicle, which now includes the passenger compartment in addition to the engine compartment.

Specialist vehicle design and manufacturing group, Woodall Nicholson Holdings Ltd (WNHL) of Bolton, UK, which builds light- and medium-duty commercial vehicles under various brand names (which include Mellor Bus, Trekka Bus and VCS, see below) has added a fourth division to its group portfolio.