The commercial vehicle industry rides “business tides,” where technologies shift overnight, and customer expectations evolve faster than many companies can respond. Although just keeping up is a challenge, staying ahead of the curve is definitely the goal. That theme anchored a recent CVBS panel discussion moderated by Jim Press, current senior advisor to Work Truck Solutions, and former COO of Toyota North America, featuring Hyundai Motor America’s Jim Park, Knapheide’s Mandar Dighe, and Mitsubishi HC Capital America’s Kirk Mann. Together, they represented three important aspects of the commercial vehicle ecosystem: manufacturing, upfitting, and financing.
Threading through the talk of hydrogen trucks, freight tonnage, and AI‑driven operations, the panel delivered critical insight for how leaders can adapt in a future that won’t wait.
Jim set the tone this way: “Our market is fairly complicated right now. There are a lot of challenges externally, with interest rates, demand, what’s going on in the Middle East, and fuel prices, so it’s a period where we have to use intelligence to work our way through this and grow to a sustainable future. In my mind, it’s not a growth-driven market; it’s really more of profitability through the discipline and application of technology and learning new ways we can take advantage of this to redefine our own businesses, and to succeed in the future because with AI, the world’s going to be different, and how we all adapt to that and capitalize on it is the key to success.”
Reinvention Starts with Honesty
Jim Park opened with a story most OEMs would avoid: Hyundai’s first attempt to enter the U.S. commercial truck market in the 1990s.
Jim recalled, “They made a run for a couple of years… it just was not very sustainable. So they exited the market.”
Now, two decades later, Hyundai is back, but with a very different strategy. Instead of competing head‑to‑head with legacy diesel players, the company is leaning into hydrogen, electrification, robotics, and software‑defined vehicles.
Jim explained, “This is an opportunity to be one of the first movers to help catalyze the market.”
Hyundai’s leadership is funding that ambition with a $26 billion U.S. investment in manufacturing, AI, robotics, and hydrogen infrastructure.
For industry professionals, the lesson is clear: Reinvention requires the courage to admit what didn’t work — and the discipline to return with a smarter plan.
Adaptability Is a Daily Practice
Representing a 178‑year‑old company, Knapheide’s Mandar Dighe spoke from the perspective of a business that has survived every imaginable market shift.
“For the last few years, we’ve all been saying, ‘It’s coming back,’ opined Dighe. “And we’re still in that mode.”
Yet Knapheide isn’t waiting for normal to return. Instead, the company is working diligently as a systems integrator and body manufacturer to deliver complete work‑ready solutions.
Dighe commented, “The body is just a solution for the end product… the mission is to integrate all the tools into a mobile vehicle.”
Dighe also highlighted a shift many dealers and fleets are feeling: customers now expect consumer‑grade convenience in a B2B world.
The point was simple: AI isn’t a future tool — it’s a present expectation.
Cycles Don’t Lie
While Park and Dighe focused on technology and transformation, Mitsubishi HC Capital’s Kirk Mann brought the grounding force of someone who has lived through every freight cycle since the early 1990s.
He pointed to a recent headline, “Tonnage hits three‑year high,” while pointing out that load rejections are rising too, a sign that capacity is tightening, and pricing power may be returning.
“There’s something going on in the industrial complex requiring a lot of freight to be moved. And that’s a good sign.”
Mann reminded the audience of a pattern that has held true for decades, “When things get good in over‑the‑road freight, the other segments follow.”
His message wasn’t about predicting the future; it was about preparing for it.
Intelligence Is the New Advantage
Across the panel, one theme kept resurfacing: intelligence — human and artificial — is becoming the industry’s most valuable asset.
Park emphasized Hyundai’s software‑defined truck and the importance of data, “To have good AI function, you need data, and a lot of good data.”
Dighe described AI as both an internal efficiency tool and an external growth engine, especially as data centers and digital infrastructure expand. Mann framed AI as part of a broader shift toward smarter, more disciplined operations.
Together, they delivered a message that applies to every dealer, fleet, and OEM: AI won’t replace the people who understand their business, but it will replace those who refuse to learn new things.
Jim Press forecasted, “With AI technology, the rate of growth is no longer throttled by manpower. It’s now throttled by your application of intelligence and AI. So, your growth rate can exceed your competitors’. The advantage is how your company applies these tools in the future versus the others in your segment.”
The Real Meaning of Staying Ahead of the Curve
The panel was billed as a conversation about the future of commercial vehicles. Beyond that message, it also offered a leadership lesson about:
- Reinvention (Hyundai)
- Adaptability (Knapheide)
- Preparation (Mitsubishi HC Capital)
The future doesn’t reward the biggest or the oldest. It rewards the most prepared.
Staying ahead of the curve isn’t only about predicting what’s next; it’s also about building the mindset and systems that allow for nimble change.
View all the CVBS Spring 2026 sessions here.
