Bus and coach body builder, Metalsur Carrocerias SA has reported record sales growth of 321.8% for 2020 with registrations of 232 bus and coach bodies compared with just 55 units in 2019.

DAF Caminhões Brasil Ltda has started production of its latest version of the CF tractor range at its plant in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil for both the on- and off-highway markets, as well as a CF rigid truck model, marking its entry into the rigid truck distribution segment in Brazil for the first time.

DAF Caminhões Brasil has launched a new off-road tractor unit in its new CF range, the chassis has been fully reinforced to handle severe off-road applications such as sugarcane and timber operations and offering gross train weights of up to 125 tons.

BYD and Marcopolo in March announced delivery of the first articulated electric bus to be made in Brazil to the city of São José dos Campos. The vehicle is to be used for city public transport as part of the Linha Verde project.

Iveco América do Sul Ltda at the start of this year announced it was hiring 478 temporary workers for its industrial complex in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais to expand commercial vehicle production to meet demand. This is in addition to 272 new employees hired in October last year.

The São Bernardo do Campo factory belonging to Mercedes-Benz do Brasil reached an historic milestone in March as it celebrated 50 years of manufacturing the OF front-engine bus chassis range.

The price of steel charged by producers in Brazil in the last 12 months has increased by almost 100%, according to Norberto Fabris, president of ANFIR - National Association of Manufacturers of Road Implements.

Volvo Trucks Latin America Ltda said it had hired more than 400 temporary employees in January taking its employee numbers to 3,800, slightly more than the 3,700 employed in January 2020, prior to the pandemic.

The National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers of São Paulo, SP, which represents the vehicle manufacturing sector in Brazil, has asked the Brazilian government to postpone the implementation date of stricter Proconve 8 (Euro VI) emission rules from diesel engines in commercial vehicles, which were adopted in 2018 and are scheduled for implementation in 2022.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil in February this year announced it had plans to hire around 1,000 additional people for the São Bernardo do Campo plant in ABC Paulista, which currently employs 8,500.

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus exported 180 units to Uruguay in the first quarter this year, some 291.3% higher than in the same period of 2020. In March it sold 100 vehicles, which VWCO suggests was the largest volume it has ever sold in a single month.

Ambev, the largest drinks manufacturer in Brazil, as part of its strategy to reduce its carbon footprint significantly says it plans to convert 102 of its diesel trucks used in city distribution operations to electric drive.