Hino Trucks
As America’s fastest growing medium truck company, it came as no surprise to learn that Hino Motors will soon introduce its sixth generation hybrid trucking system.
Primarily operating within the cabover truck market, Hino Motors manufactures, sells, and services its extensive product lineup. Local manufacturing of its Class 6 and Class 7 conventional style trucks is based in Williamstown, W.Va., and this September the company will release a hybrid version of its Class 5 model.
Advanced hybrid development
“The new cabover lineup is an exciting addition to the Hino Trucks brand as we strive to provide our customers with a comprehensive offering for their trucking needs,” Sumio Fukaya, President and CEO, Hino Trucks, said in a statement. “With the introduction of this new truck, Hino Trucks is making the diesel electric hybrid a viable option in the U.S. commercial truck industry for the first time.”
An emerging leader in fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles, Hino Motors has actively engaged in innovative environmental and sustainability initiatives since 1993.
Developing several priorities coupled alongside its environmental initiatives, Hino Motors established the necessary framework to see through a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, streamlining of its distribution initiatives of environmentally friendly products, and the production of vehicles with fewer parts. Three years later, in 1996, these initiatives spread across Hino Motors’ global operations. The company has also obtained ISO 14001 certification that recognizes management and leadership standards in environmental performance.
Hino Motors has implemented green purchasing practices, in addition to its consolidated environmental management techniques, and developed guidelines and environmental initiatives for the distribution of dealers. Today, there are more than 160 Hino Motors dealers across the United States.
Looking ahead, Hino Motors has established the next phase of its environmental management plan, 2015 Environmental Initiative, to promote low carbon dioxide products, recycling oriented plant environments, and environmental conservation.
Toyota takes the wheel
A subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation since 2001, Hino Motors was the pioneer in hybrid technology vehicles. Both originally Japanese-based companies, in 1991 Hino began producing hybrid buses with a technology and design that would later serve as the groundwork for the introduction of the Toyota Prius, the first mass produced full hybrid electric vehicle. Hino Motors is now launching its sixth generation parallel hybrid trucking system.
“What captured Toyota’s interest in Hino Motors was our hybrid technology,” Glenn Ellis, Vice-President of Marketing and Dealer Operations, Hino Motors, told the American Business Journal. “We had been a supplier to Toyota for a number of years and then Toyota took a controlling interest in Hino and the hybrid technology was then adopted into Toyota products.”
The company has found consistency with its parent company in what it provides to United States market, offering a product that is reliable, durable, fuel efficient, and that holds a strong residual value, creating a strong combination of product offering for the American commercial truck market.
A strong product offering combined with the lowest cost of ownership in its class, Hino Motors offers an environmentally friendly product that meets emission level requirements without the use of costly carbon credits, something that has steered Hino Motors ahead of its competition, particularly in the American market offering medium duty conventional manufactured trucks. Hino Motors meets stringent emissions and fuel efficiency guidelines without compromising power and performance. The team at Hino Motors is not lost in its success either, as Ellis commented, “We believe our people and our dealers are second to none in the industry.”
Building on strength
Through the economic downturn – a time that has been particularly difficult to America’s manufacturing industry – Hino Motors was “fortunate” to continue growing during the recession. The company noted an impact its volumes, but not to the same level as experienced by its industry competition. A four-time recipient of J.D. Power and Associates awards recognizing the best in customer satisfaction, Hino Motors has grown its brand recognition and market share to stay steady during the economic slide.
Hino Motors anticipates building on its strengths, improving in an already strong Class 6 market. Simultaneously, the company projects a growth of its market share in Class 7 through its expanded offering. The introduction of its Class 5 hybrid will also push growth in this market segment.
Ellis concluded, “We believe the most economical fuel efficient manner from well to wheel is diesel and diesel electric hybrid, so our focus is to increase the efficiency of diesel engines today and to increase hybrid products where appropriate to also enhance and expand fuel efficiency of our products. We see ourselves as continuing to become a bigger player in the U.S. commercial truck market.”
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