According to data released by Fabus, Brazilian production of bus and coach bodies decreased by 26.7% in 2020 compared with the previous year; 16,715 units were manufactured against 22,806 in the same period last year.

Overall, total sales of truck bodies and semi-trailers finished the year up 0.8% over the previous year, by registering 121,891 units against 120,962 units, according to Anfir.

In its centenary year in Brazil, Ford Brasil Ltda surprised the market in February by announcing it is to close its factory in São Bernardo do Campo where it produces the Ford F-Series F-350 and F-4000 truck models and Ford Cargo truck, as well as the Ford Fiesta car, whose production will cease as soon as inventories run out.

Steel wheel and steel components producer, Iochpe-Maxion SA, is consolidating its North American steel wheels manufacturing operations from three plants to two.

Following the formation of Marcopolo Next, a new division of bus and coach body builder, Marcopolo SA, set up at the start of the year to work start-up companies to develop new technologies, the company says its focus has been on developing biosafety solutions to make public transport safer from viral contamination.

Daimler Buses, a division of Daimler Trucks AG, as part of its previously announced strategic goal of expanding sales in South East Asia, has appointed local automobile manufacturer and dealer, Truong Hai Auto Corporation as its general distributor for Daimler Buses in Vietnam.

The BRA14m (USD2.8m) deal, which was first announced last November, was finalised in February this year.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil Ltda has agreed with Robert Bosch GmbH to build jointly a state-of-the-art Vehicle Test Centre for commercial vehicles in Brazil.

Last year Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus announced plans to allocate BRA110m million (USD27m) to make the necessary adjustments at its Resende (RJ) plant to tailor its production lines to begin assembling electric trucks as soon as 2020.

Caetano Bus says it is focusing sales of its electric bus chassis predominantly to markets located outside Western Europe, according to Jörg Pinto CEO of the Salvador Caetano Group in an interview with T&BB at Busworld in late October.

The truck market in Brazil has continued its recovery and to expand strongly with sales exceeding 100,000 units in 2019, an increase of 33.3% compared with 75,994 units in 2018.

Small and medium-duty bus builder, Volare SA, a subsidiary of Marcopolo S.A., is planning to intensify export sales to countries in Africa.