Hino South Africa has set an ambitious target to grow its sales volume by 15% to 3 800 units in 2024, compared to the 3 300 units it retailed in 2023. This in pursuit of a market share of 10% in the overall South African truck market forecast of 34 800 units in 2024.
This was announced by Anton Falck, Vice President of Hino South Africa, at a media briefing at the Toyota Africa Parts Centre, Ekurhuleni, on 24 January. The theme was “Moving to the Next Level” and the presentation showed how Hino intends reaching its targets.
“The overall truck market in South Africa grew by 9% in 2023 over 2022, going from sales of 30 149 units in 2022 to 32 907 last year. Medium and heavy truck volume remained almost the same, while the big growth was in the extra-heavy segment which rose by 21,5% from 15 191 units sold in 2022 to 18 458 units retailed in 2023. This meant that 56% of total truck sales in South Africa in 2023 were in this premium category,” said Falck.
“We were not a serious competitor in that market for much of 2023, but now we are pinning our sales increase on the new 700 range to boost our overall market share. The new model has been well received in the market and what is interesting is that many of the buyers are purchasing a Hino for the first time. We are forecasting to more than double our extra-heavy truck sales from the 377 units sold this year to 750 in 2024,” he added.
Hino sales in South Africa, which included the Hino 200 trucks, which are reported as sales in the light commercial vehicle segment, totalled 3 329 unts units in 2023. This placed Hino South Africa in eighth place among Hino distributors around the world, with Hino selling 135 203 trucks and buses globally last year.
Falck says trading conditions in the truck market were tough in 2023 and he is pleased that Hino South Africa was outstanding in two important surveys during the year. One was Datatrack, which is a quarterly research on fleet operators’ feedback on customer experience in dealing with local truck manufacturers and distributors. Here Hino topped the combined score as well as for sales, service, and parts throughout the year. Then the Hino dealer network gave Hino SA positive feedback in the NADA Dealer Satisfaction Index survey about the relationships between the two entities and here Hino won a Platinum Award for the fifth time.
More good news for Hino was the sixth place overall achieved by Team Hino Sugawara in the recent Dakar Rally. Importantly, this marked the 33rd finish in succession by a Hino truck in this gruelling annual race, further underlining the brand’s reputation for reliability and durability.
Falck made an important announcement at the briefing of a new offering from Hino SA in the extra-heavy truck segment that is bound to generate sales. This is a Guaranteed Future Value plan (GFV) on the Hino 700 2841 and 2845 truck-tractor models. The GFV offer includes a three-year finance period, a 360 000 km term (120 000 km per year), and end of term options to retain or return the truck.
It includes a Service and Maintenance plan and the standard Hino Connect management system. Monthly terms start from R41 500 with future value at 40%.
“The target market for the GFV offering is truck operators who prefer not to invest substantial amounts of capital at the outset and want an even flow of monthly expenses, against the challenges of defleeting or replacing the fleet. These are also operators who prefer to use Hino dealers for their service and maintenance,” explained Falck.
Attendees at the briefing were also given an insightful presentation on the workings of the impressive Toyota Africa Parts Centre which manages the the Hino parts supply with at least one delivery a day to each dealer and special priority given to the supply of parts for Vehicle Off Road (VOR) orders.
Those at the briefing were also given a peek at Hino’s global programme to reduce emissions by using hybrid diesel-electric powertrains in the future. Namlog has been operating a pilot Hino 300 Hybrid while there are further requests to evaluate this model in actual use. A back-to-back comparison between a Hino 300 Hybrid and a normal 300-Series diesel over 100-200 km trips in Gauteng, carrying an average load of 579 kg, showed a fuel and emissions saving of about 20% in favour of the Hybrid. Drivers reported no difference between the two trucks in terms of driving them.
The Hino 300 Hybrid uses a parallel system where the engine drives the wheels through the transmission and simultaneously drives an electricity generator. When running in easy conditions the truck can run on the electric motor alone, depending on the remaining power in the batteries as controlled by a dedicated computer.
“Hino Motors Japan and its worldwide distributor network are fully committed to carbon reduction with an ultimate objective of a zero situation and the company is using a mix of different solutions from battery electric to hybrid, hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen as a combustible fuel. We will be part of this programme and the Hino 300 Hybrid will be our first step,” concluded Falck.
