Isuzu has announced plans to build an electric vehicle development and testing facility within its Fujisawa plant, to help it achieve its target of having a full range of carbon-neutral vehicles by 2030.

The new Hilux Champ was first unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo during October and went on sale in Thailand, the truck’s largest single market, at the Bangkok International Motor Expo at the end of November.

Japan’s market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to recover in the third quarter of 2023, by 15% to 95,079 units.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, declined by over 8% to 326,720 units in the third quarter of 2023.

The new Super Great has been fully remodelled six years after its last major redesign in 2017.

The two companies have been working together since January 2020 on verifying the compatibility of fuel-cell systems for heavy-duty trucks.

The factory employed 1,070 staff and produced 2,100 TBR tyres a day. Further reasons for closure included the impact on local communities, issues with the rubber supply chain and the overall profitability of the factory.

The CJPT consortium was established initially in early 2021 through the collaborative efforts of Hino, Isuzu, and Toyota to expedite the adoption of zero-emission and connected technologies within the commercial vehicle sector.

The companies have formed a joint venture (NextGen AssetCo) for leasing up to 1,000 electric bus batteries for GBP 100 million as part of FirstGroup’s plan to electrify its electric bus fleet in the UK. This new company will purchase the batteries, which will then be leased to First Bus over an eight-year period.

The new Bridgestone Ecopia Steer Enliten and Ecopia Drive Enliten tyres are available from January 2024 in size 315/70 R22.5. Four additional sizes will be added next year and one further size in 2025. Bridgestone will add the Ecopia Enliten trailer tyre in Q4 2024.

The acquisition, through its US subsidiary Komatsu America Corporation, will allow the Japanese company to develop and produce a full range of battery-powered vehicles and machinery in-house, starting with mining vehicles for the North and South American markets.

As part of the GRIDSERVE-led ‘Electric Freightway’ project, Hitachi has been contracted to build 140 electric heavy-duty vehicle charging stations across 15 motorway charging sites and ten commercial depot charging locations across the UK. Furthermore, Hitachi will collect and manage data gathered from charging sessions to optimise charging, route planning and the battery health of HGVs over the next five years.