Trend towards lighter vehicles in the specialty vehicles industry

The specialty vehicles industry produces vehicles for various purposes for the transportation of goods and equipment. It mainly manufactures:

• Heavy trucks
• Truck bodies
• Modified vehicles
• Emergency vehicles
• Maintenance vehicles
• Dump trucks
• Tank trucks
• Panel vans
• Semi-trailers
• Trailers

The two main trends in the sector are on the one hand, to produce fuel-efficient vehicles, either with hybrid engines or by using lighter materials, and on the other hand, to reduce the costs of vehicle operations by transforming them so they are multifunctional or requiring less operational resources.

Some figures on the specialty vehicles industry in Québec

• SMBs employ an average of 40 employees
  
• 50% of these companies’ production is exported to the United States
  

Source: MDEIE — Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, 2008