Hino outlines multi-million dollar future in Australia

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Prime Mover Magazine  /  September 1, 2016

Truck manufacturer, Hino and its dealers, will be investing in excess of $40 million over the next few years in new premises and facilities, including all-new dedicated dealerships in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The announcement comes as Hino recently conducted extensive time and motion studies of truck servicing. The investment will also see new and some existing workshop facilities incorporated with design and procedures designed to dramatically reduce service times and improve technicians’ efficiencies. Existing facilities will also be progressively converted to incorporate the redesigned service bays.

“Dealer investment in new premises and facilities is commensurately high in anticipation of increased market growth,” said Bill Gillespie, Hino Australia General Manager of Brand and Franchise Development, who spoke this week of the company’s faith in the growth of the light and medium duty truck markets in Australia.

“Market demand for the Hino 500 Series range continues to grow and 2016 has been no exception, reinforcing our goal to keep faith with our customers’ growing business needs in the face of strong global demand for the 500 Series range.”

Demand for Hino Australia’s medium-duty 500 Series range increased by almost six per cent in the period to July 2016, which exceeded the 2015 sales results for Hino in this segment. Demand has also exceeded supply for the Hino 300 Series truck range in the first seven months of the year.

Supply constraints from Japan due to overwhelming demand from global markets meant Hino was restricted on sales and only able to deliver 2,455 of the 300 Series trucks during this period. This result was 2.97 per cent beneath the all-time six-month record set by Hino the previous year, with Gillespie stating that the company was “working with its Japanese parent to address supply issues”.

In addition to the multi-million dollar investment, Hino also said the new Hino 300 Series 4x4 crew cab model is currently undergoing trials in rugged Australian conditions and is expected to join Hino’s 4x4 line-up in early 2017.

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Hino to standardise reversing cameras in 300 models

Trade Trucks AU  /  September 1, 2016

Hino Australia is broadening the vision of its customers with the addition of a reversing camera as standard

Hino is claiming a local first with its 300 Series, announcing the light-duty truck range is the first of its kind to offer a reverse camera as standard equipment.

Fitting the ADR-compliant, waterproof, and high-definition cameras into its range, Hino Australia manager of product strategy Daniel Petrovski says the truck maker is "meeting the demands of our customers and the needs of Australian light duty truck buyers."

"Our light-duty trucks are already equipped with cruise control, dual SRS airbags, ultra-narrow A-pillars, ABS brakes and Vehicle Stability Control," he says.

"Reverse cameras are a logical addition to the standard safety specification."

Offering a live video feed to the truck’s 6.1-inch touch-screen multimedia unit, the camera aids the driver in reversing safely both on the road and in the depot.

The drivers will also have access to audio via a built-in microphone and, when it comes to night operation, will be able to utilise the camera’s infrared night-vision capabilities.

Petrovski says with the addition of the camera feed to the already-fitted large electronically adjustable and heated mirrors with integrated convex spotter mirrors, drivers will have a 360-degree view of their surroundings.

"Our decision to fit rear-view cameras to the 300 Series is a positive step in ensuring that Hino is at the forefront of safety developments in the Australian commercial vehicle market," he says.

The announcement is the second piece of news out of Hino Australia concerning the 300 Series in a month, with the Hybrid variant celebrating its approaching 10-year milestone.

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Hino points to good economic times

Australasian Transport News (ATN)  /  September 15, 2016

Hino is happy with a surprisingly strong Australian economy and the sales of its trucks

It’s easy to get a sense of global economic doom and gloom if you watch, read and listen to mainstream media too much.

But here are some of the latest business facts in Australia.

Gross domestic product is growing at a healthy clip of more than three per cent a year, and we haven’t had a recession in Australia for more than a quarter of a century.

The latest company profit results are regarded as good on the whole; and interest rates and inflation are still incredibly low.

And of course the forecasts for bumper growth in the freight task just keep on coming.

The latest tip is for a 26 per cent increase over the next decade, from no less a body than the National Transport Commission.

"The economy appears to be in surprisingly good shape," Hino Australia chairman and CEO Steve Lotter says.

"As a country we seem to be transitioning well from the mining boom to the construction boom, both in infrastructure and for housing, and this has been good for the truck market as a whole."

Lotter, head of the number two brand in the Australian truck market, says Hino’s experience is especially good in NSW and Victoria at the moment.

Hino says Western Australia is down because of the mining downturn of course, as is much of Queensland, but south-east Queensland is holding up well due to construction. South Australia is stable.

Things are so good in fact that Hino hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for some models.

However that has a fair bit to do with supply problems out of Japan, with a new plant scheduled to fully operational in October.

While business prospects are good, as an importer Hino is finding the exchange rate to be "tough".

And competition amongst truck suppliers to Australia is as fierce as ever.

"If this isn’t the most competitive truck market in the world, I don’t want to be transferred to the one that is," Lotter says.

Trucking operators in Australia know what fierce competition is like, and that no doubt explains why things are tougher for many of them than the positive state of the economy suggests.

Lotter was speaking at a recent media presentation at Hino’s Australian headquarters at Taren Point in southern Sydney.

It was just before the latest Truck Industry Council sales figures were released, which show that as usual, Hino is a clear runner-up to Isuzu.

The brand has sold 2,870 trucks for the year-to-date (YTD) to the end of August in a rising market, giving it a 13.6 per cent market share.

Notwithstanding the overall positive picture, Lotter says: "As an industry we believe that the Government could do more to help grow the overall truck market.

"The average age of trucks on Aussie roads is approaching 15 years, whereas it’s fewer than 10 for most developed countries."

"New trucks are certainly safer and greener, and either a carrot or stick approach could be taken to encourage operators to update and upgrade their fleets."