Beginning his new role on November 1, 2023, signals the Chinese company’s ambition to grow throughout Europe, by consolidating European sales on a local level. It is worth noting that CATL began production of battery cells in Germany earlier this year at its factory in Arnstadt, Thuringia.

Zita Zigan, Director, Global Commercial Vehicle Forecasts at GlobalData, in a webinar held at the end of June, provided a positive outlook for the global truck market in 2023, 2024 and beyond. Zigan, in her presentation, highlighted some of the many factors influencing different markets in Europe, North America and the BIC countries. Below is a summary of some of her analysis of the global truck markets.

Higer completed the delivery of 780 Higer Buses worth USD55m to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the “Belt and Road Initiative”, signifying the largest ever bus export from China to Saudi Arabia.

The significance of this investment for InoBat is that this will provide access to Gotion's research and development, its raw materials (lithium etc.) supply chain, cell production and recycling capabilities which will accelerate InoBat’s path to series and large-scale production of battery cells.

The 69-seater buses also feature 30 USB charging ports, built-in WIFI and air conditioning along with a total capacity of 97 passengers.

The new test centre, jointly operated by FEV Group, in Oued Zem complements two cold weather sites in Finland, north of the Arctic Circle.

The JV aims to manufacture battery cells for commercial electric vehicles at a 21-gigawatt hour (GWh) factory that is anticipated to cost between USD 2-3 billion. The emphasis is on pioneering better battery chemistries that last longer, are safer, lower in cost and are more environmentally sustainable, preferably without the need for nickel and cobalt raw materials.

The GTe14 is set to make its debut in the UK in the first quarter of 2024.

At the company’s East Asia Research & Development Centre, the upcoming ‘X15H’ engine was presented alongside Meritor axles, aftertreatment systems, and ‘Endurant’ transmissions.

The 1500th electric bus was a BYD–Alexander Dennis Enviro200EV, one of 299 joining Go-Ahead London.

The trucks are produced at the company’s smart assembly plant in Zibo, Shandong province, run by the Geely Holding Group E-Pickup division. The first batch of exports were shipped to markets in Central Asia.

In the first half of 2023 the joint venture, based in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, sold 50 battery-powered buses (e-Bus) based on the ‘Model T’ prototype that was developed by Hon Hai based on its MIH purpose-built open platform.