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.

With an investment of more than USD30m, the Michelin Group of Clermont-Ferrand, France has started construction of its first ever end-of-life tyre recycling plant in the Antofagasta region of Chile, South America.

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.

Iveco Bus Argentina together with its distribution network, Ivecam S.A., has delivered 80 Eurobus buses to the Ministry of National Security of Buenos Aires.

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.

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus has announced that four of its extra heavy-duty VW Constellation truck models are to be fitted with the new 12-speed V-Tronic ZF Traxon transmission for sale in export markets from April this year.

The bus and coach chassis segment maintained a downward trend and decreased 16.3% in the first quarter of 2021, with 845 units exported. Bus and coach exports have been in a downward spiral since 2019 and compared with two years ago the exports have shrunk by almost 60%.

In the first quarter of 2021, Brazilian manufacturers saw truck exports soar by 91.2% to 5,276 units, up from 2,759 units in the same quarter in 2020.