Volvo Group

Aurora’s driverless trucks show they are for real

After numerous rides in autonomous trucks monitored by safety drivers in case of a mishap, I found it almost surreal to climb into Aurora Innovation’s Class 8 driverless truck, buckle up, hear the engine rumble to life and the air brakes disengage, and feel the truck move under its own power — with no one in the driver’s seat.

While two of three Americans still fear autonomous vehicles, according to AAA’s latest survey released Thursday, my three-quarter-mile ride around an Aurora test facility...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/auroras-driverless-trucks-show-they-are-for-real

SEC smackdown and SuperTruck news overwhelm convention dispatches  

The annual Work Truck Week and American Trucking Associations Maintenance & Technology Council pile on stakeholder-specific dispatches each March. But this week bigger stories originated outside the convention halls in Indianapolis and New Orleans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington is as good a starting point as any.

Lordstown Motors gets an SEC comeuppance

Nearly three years after Hindenberg Research set its sights on Lordstown Motors Corp., accusing the former special purpose...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sec-smackdown-and-supertruck-news-overwhelm-convention-dispatches

The Whac-A-Mole reality of autonomous trucking regulations

If you thought last year’s veto of a Teamsters-backed ban on heavy-duty autonomous trucking in California put the issue to rest, think again. While 23 states allow at least testing of driverless trucking, emerging challenges resemble the arcade game Whac-A-Mole.

Early-stage commercialized driverless trucking on Interstate 45 in Texas looks likely later this year. The state embraced the technology in 2017. Yet a move to stop driver-out operations percolated in the Texas Legislature last year.

“That...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-whac-a-mole-reality-of-autonomous-trucking-regulations

Volvo Group reports strong Q4 results but caution for 2024

Sweden’s Volvo Group reported a 10% increase in fourth-quarter sales and mostly positive financial metrics for Q4 and 2023. But the truck, bus and construction equipment maker suggested softening sales this year as pent-up pandemic demand has largely been met.

Volvo posted net income of $1.16 billion, or 59 cents per diluted share, in the final three months of 2023, up 80.6% compared with $641.4 million, or 31 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

For the full year 2023, Volvo increased net...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/volvo-group-reports-strong-q4-results-but-caution-for-2024

Hydrogen rises at CES

googletag.cmd.push(function() { var gptSlot = googletag.defineSlot(‘/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1’, [[728, 90], [468, 60], [300, 100], [320, 50]], ‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’).defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps.banner1).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());
gptAdSlots.push(gptSlot);
});

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’); });

In an event ruled by battery-electric trucks, hydrogen made a splash at the Advanced Clean...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hydrogen-rises-at-ces

Electrolyzers only scratch the surface of midcentury hydrogen demand

googletag.cmd.push(function() { var gptSlot = googletag.defineSlot(‘/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1’, [[728, 90], [468, 60], [300, 100], [320, 50]], ‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’).defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps.banner1).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());
gptAdSlots.push(gptSlot);
});

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’); });

Even as manufacturing of electrolyzers grows, the hydrogen-making devices barely address the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electrolyzers-only-scratch-the-surface-of-midcentury-hydrogen-demand

Volvo Group wins bid for bankrupt Proterra battery assets

Swedish truck maker Volvo Group will pay $210 million for the battery-making and charging assets of bankrupt Proterra Inc.

Volvo Battery Solutions was selected as the winning bidder for the business and assets of Proterra Powered, one of two auctions for the electric bus, battery and energy company that filed for bankruptcy protection in August. 

“We entered into the Chapter 11 process with a mission to maximize the potential of each of our product lines. Today, we have taken an important step...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/volvo-group-wins-bid-for-bankrupt-proterra-battery-assets

Traton raises 2023 earnings target after solid Q3

Traton Group, the parent of Navistar International, raised its full-year earnings guidance Wednesday after reporting solid deliveries for the third quarter.

Munich-based Traton reported 15% higher sales in the first nine months at 249,500 vehicles compared to 217,000 in the first nine months of 2022. Improving supply chains helped increase production. Volvo Group and Paccar Inc. both reported solid Q3 results earlier. They are cautioning of a slowdown next year, especially in over-the-road...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/traton-raises-2023-earnings-target-after-solid-q3

Volvo Group posts solid Q3 results but sees slowdown ahead

Sweden’s Volvo Group reported slightly higher deliveries but fewer truck orders in the third quarter as it prepares for a slower market in 2024.

Volvo is the first of the four major OEMs to report results for the July-September period, typically the slowest of the year. Paccar Inc., Traton Group and Daimler Truck will report in coming weeks.

“We have successfully mitigated cost inflation with price management and continued to handle disturbances in the supply chain,” Martin Lundstedt, Volvo Group...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/volvo-group-posts-solid-q3-results-but-sees-slowdown-ahead

+ More