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 models and Ford Cargo truck, as well as the Ford Fiesta car; production is expected to cease as soon as inventories run out, the company stated.

Ford Motor Company, under a comprehensive redesign of its global business structure, has announced it plans to exit the commercial heavy truck business in South America.

At the beginning of the year, Daimler Buses launched two new public transport bus models on the Indonesian market, these were based on the chassis models of Mercedes-Benz OF 1623 RF and O500RS 1836, which the company says offer passengers improved levels of safety and comfort.

Marcopolo SA and Mercedes-Benz do Brasil have together won an order for 342 new low entry city buses with Metbus, STP Santiago SA and Redbus Urbano SA - three of the largest operators of the Transantiago system in Santiago de Chile.

The city of São Paulo in December announced it would be re-tendering the largest tender in Latin America for city buses.

Bus builder, Caio Induscar Ltda, has announced it is in the process of exporting 148 Mondego City bus models on Mercedes-Benz Euro VI chassis to Buses Vule, an operator providing services to the Transantiago Transport system in Santiago de Chile.

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus Ltda, a subsidiary of the Traton Group has added a new production line at the group’s plant in Querétaro to expand bus chassis production.

Since the beginning of this year, the operation of Foton Aumark do Brasil, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Foton Motor Group in Beijing, has gained the full support of the Chinese parent company, and it plans to intensify operations on the Brazilian market.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil Ltda has for the first time exported vehicles built at its factory in São Bernardo do Campo to the island of Haiti in the Caribbean.

Marcopolo SA reported celebrating production of 3,000 Torino city bus units at its plant in Rio de Janeiro.

In December, Caio Induscar Ltda, State of São Paulo reported it had delivered another 102 school buses for operation in the city of Botucatu, State of São Paulo; these were sourced under the school bus programme, Caminho da Escola program, which is funded by the National Education Development Fund (FNDE).

Cummins do Brasil Ltda has announced it is already ready to meet the new Euro VI / Proconve P8 emission standards for diesel vehicles, which are scheduled to come into effect during 2022 and 2023.