Jakarta-headquartered Nusatama makes special-purpose vehicles for the oil, gas, mining and forestry sectors.

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.

The Malaysian commercial vehicle market over 2 tons gvw continued to grow in the third quarter of 2023, albeit just slightly to 19,900 units after an 85% rebound to 19,329 units in the same period of last year.

The Indonesian market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw reversed sharply in the third quarter of 2023 after two years of strong growth.

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 battery cells are to be sourced from LG Energy Solution to make battery modules and packs for TDCV starting in the first half of 2025.

The new facility is scheduled to be completed in 2028 within the company’s Hwaseong manufacturing complex.

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.

Mars Auto develops AI-based self-driving software for freight trucks. In 2019, it was the first company in South Korea to successfully test a self-driving truck.