China sold about 92,000 heavy trucks in October 2026, down 13% year on year, while new energy heavy trucks rose nearly 70% to roughly 34,000 and penetration reached near 55% for a second month, First Commercial Vehicle Network said on 3 November. Over the same week operators tendered or awarded more than 760 electric city buses. The commercial vehicle axle, not the battery, now fixes bus layout.
October: 92,000 Trucks, 55% Electric
January to October heavy truck sales reached about 1.021 million units, up 10%. October was 7% below September and the fourth straight year-on-year fall, while exports rose about 20%. Axle orders follow the mix: fewer 13-tonne single-reduction drive axles for domestic diesel fleets, more integrated electric units per tractor.
760 Buses Tendered in One Week
Anshan Transport Group tendered on 30 October for 400 battery-electric 10.5-metre city buses, budget 383 million yuan, closing 23 November. Guiyang Public Transport awarded 253 electric buses the same day. Yantai Bus Group put 107 buses into service from 26 October, the largest batch of 41 running at Badawan Bay.
The Drive Axle Moves Backward
Yantai's maintenance staff explain the mechanism: a one-step low-entry body with an integrated e-axle allows a short rear overhang, pushing the drive axle as far back as the body permits, adding cabin length and passengers without stretching the bus. A low entry also leaves little vertical room for the beam, kingpin and steering arm, so a low-profile front axle with a wide steering angle becomes the binding constraint, not motor torque.
12 Million Axles Already in Service
Dongfeng Dana Axle, in Xiangyang in late October, put its bus axle population above 12 million units across 300-plus Chinese cities and more than 100 overseas. Xiangyang Bus Group, Dongfeng Dana, Dongfeng Xianglv and Zhida Technology also signed a four-party agreement on autonomous bus R&D and operation, placing the electric drive axle inside the autonomous loop.
Conclusion
With near 55% of October heavy trucks and most new city buses electric, the axle now fixes floor height, wheelbase, payload and service interval; judge a commercial vehicle axle supplier on packaging drawings and fleet uptime, not peak torque.