Sales of LCV goods carrier (truck) vehicles (gvw ≤ 7.5t) grew strongly in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020-21 (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021) and by 41.9% to register 125,160 units, up from 88,189 units in same period of FY2019-20. Production of LCV goods carriers increased by 42.8% to 141,939 vehicles from 99,408 in the same quarter the year before, and exports grew by 53.1% to 11,503 (7,514).

Commercial vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors Ltd of Mumbai, has released onto the Indian market a new generation of medium-duty Tata Ultra truck models – the Ultra Sleek T-Series of T.61, T.72 and T.93. All are offered in various deck lengths from 10 to 20 feet to meet a multiple range of applications and are equipped with the 4SPCR BS VI engines used previously only in the LCV truck range (i.e., below 7t gvw), but are now fitted in ICV range up to 9t gvw trucks.

Ashok Leyland Ltd of Chennai has announced it is offering round-the-clock support for all commercial vehicles transporting oxygen as well as other essential supplies.

Electric bus and light van builder, Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd of Bengaluru has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens Ltd of Mumbai, India to address jointly the need of electric commercial vehicle customers and execute e-mobility projects in India.

JK Tyre & Industries Ltd of New Delhi, one of India’s largest tyre manufacturers, says it has partnered with integral bus builder, JBM Auto Ltd1 of Gurugram (New Delhi) to supply radial tyres fitted with its smart tyres device for JBM’s CNG (JBM Citylife) and electric buses (JBM Ecolife).

JK Tyre & Industries Ltd of New Delhi, one of India’s largest manufacturer of tyres has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX)1 of Pithampur towards the development of a wet grip test track at NATRAX Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV) of Oragadam, near Chennai, a subsidiary of Germany’s Daimler AG, has opened a Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) in Chennai.

Pune-based SCDE Solutions Pvt Ltd (Safe Cams Digital Eye Solutions) has launched a Driver Status Monitoring (DSM) system-based camera. The DSM functionality has been made available in three camera devices being sold by Safe Cams – SC 200 AI, SC DS02 and SC 400. While SC200 AI and SC400 models can be configured without a DSM camera, the SC DS02 has been designed exclusively as a ‘DSM-only’ camera.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), based in New Delhi, has mandated oxygen carrying tankers (oxygen transporting tankers which are used for emergency services especially for supporting COVID affected patients) with and without National permits1 capable of carrying oxygen, install Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) devices compliant with AIS 140 standards.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), based in New Delhi, has released the Draft Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2021, further amending the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) for the government of India has issued a draft notification proposing new tyre standards to be incorporated as a part of the Automotive Indian Standards (AIS) 142:2019 as an amendment, subject to clearance and no objection, and that all current tyre design meet these new standards from October 2022.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has now issued draft notification rules regarding concessions on new motor vehicle taxes when older vehicles are scrapped, for consultation.