HINO TRUCK PLANT IN PROSPECTON TO BE RELOCATED
The Hino truck plant at the Toyota SA Motors manufacturing complex in Prospecton, near Durban, is to be relocated to a nearby site during the plant shutdown at the end of the year. This announcement was made by the vice president of Hino SA, Dr. Casper Kruger, addressing the media at the Johannesburg Truck & Bus Show at Expo Centre today (Wednesday, October 16).
The current facility will then be used solely for the assembly of the Toyota Ses’fikile minibus taxi.
The relocation of the assembly of Hino and Dyna trucks to a dedicated facility will cost almost R50-million. The move will enable the production engineers at the factory to implement the Jundate Principle, which involves the assembly of sub-assemblies away from the main assembly line. These assembled components are then sequence delivered to the assembly line and fitted to units on the line.
Dr Kruger told the gathering at the Hino stand that he was pleased with the way Hino had performed in terms of sales in SA during the first nine months of 2013, with the 2 950 units sold in this period equating to a 12.8% share of the total truck market, excluding sales by AMH. Sales were up by 327 units and share by 0.3% compared to the situation a year ago.
Hino retained its position as the second highest selling Truck and bus company in the country, with continued dominance of the medium truck category and second place in sales in the heavy truck category.
The Hino senior executive said he was very pleased with the level of confidence in the brand being shown by the dealer network.
“An impressive 43% of our Hino dealers have either invested or are currently investing in new or upgraded facilities in the period 2010-2014 and their total investment over this period will exceed R100-million,” Dr Kruger explained. “What is important is that the decision to renew or upgrade facilities was made generally by the dealers themselves with little urging from us.”
He told the media that building a standalone facility with drive-through work bays cost between R15-million and R25-million, while upgrades with four or five double bays usually cost between R4-6-million.
In addition to the established Hino dealers a number of 2S dealership, providing a parts and service function, have been established to increase the Hino service footprint on the major transport routes. These are located in Ermelo, Groblersdal, Manzini in Swaziland, Maun in Botswana, Louis Trichardt, Whilte River, Centurion and Mthatha.
New models
Dr Kruger also announced a number of additions to the Hino truck and bus range.
All models in the 700-Series range are now fitted with Euro IV compliant engines, while the number of models in this extra-heavy category has grown substantially from 6 derivatives to 13. The extended 700-Series model range will go on sale early next year.
The additional models are a new 8×4 range and a new 6×4 freight carrier with additional derivatives to enhance the range.
These additions include a single sleeper cab 2038 truck tractor with steel suspension, while the 2841 model is now available with a double sleeper cab and the 2845 is offered with air suspension as an alternative to steel springs.
The engine of the 700-Series 2841 tipper has been optimised to suit this application with the 410 horsepower engine being replaced by a 380 horsepower power unit, with the model designation changed to 2838.
An important addition to the 700 range is the 2841 6×4 freight carrier. This rigid truck has a GCM of 56 tonne, including the added trailer and is ideal for those operators who require added capacity in this segment. It is fitted with a 16-speed AMT transmission.
Meanwhile the 500-Series range has been extended with the addition of a 2626 6×2 freight carrier. This will be the first model in the 500-Series line-up to feature a Euro IV engine, while it also has a full-floating cab, anti-lock braking with full dual air suspension on the rear. This model has a GVM of 26 tonne and a GCM of 32 tonne. It will be launched locally in the first quarter of 2014.
Other models that were displayed on the Hino stand at the show were two representatives of the top-selling medium truck range, the 300-Series Crew Cab and the Dyna, while there was also a bus based on the Hino 300-Series chassis and developed jointly with Busmark 2000.
In conclusion Dr Kruger said: “We at Hino SA are confident that our ongoing introduction of models to meet specific customer requirements with continuous improvements being made to each of our product ranges, coupled with dedicated after sales service provides concrete evidence of our ability to ensure we remain among the leaders of the South African truck and bus market into the future.”
