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Up, up an
Page 48
Page 49
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aviray.••
In the third and final part of our look at the continuing Hino success story we talk to Liam O'Neill, director responsible for the UK and Ireland, who offers an overview of the business.
Words: Andy Salter This time last year we, along with many in the business, were casting an enquiring eye over the Hino project. The Japanese brand had made a big splash at the CV Show in 2006 with its new tipper line-up, and a number of events were conspiring to make this a major opportunity for the marque. For instance, three truck makes synonymous with tippers Foden, ERF and Seddon Atkinson, remember them"? had just been retired, other manufacturers were beginning to struggle with lead times and there was all the brouhaha over EGR and SCR still percolating around the business.
That's when Hino entered the arena with an EGRequipped product, the preferred route to Euro-4 for many. It also had vehicles available left, right and centre and captured many ex-Foden dealerships. In one fell swoop, the company had seemingly established itself as a force to be reckoned with.
Fast forward 12 months, and it will come as no surprise to many that Nino has had a storming year, registering more than 600 trucks, according to the SMMT figures, but selling much larger numbers-tf we look at the registrations, we did 640 units according to the statistics," explains Liam O'Neill, director for Hino in the UK and Ireland. But I prefer to count how many we actually sold.
I invoiced for over 800 in 2007, and we're overjoyed with the response the vehicle has had in the market.
"This has meant we've had a strong January, and there are still a few more of the 2007 sales to be registered in February" To put into perspective Hino's dramatic rise in the UK sales charts, more than a third as many of its trucks were bought as Renault's a full-range manufacturer essentially with only one product range.
Growing challenge
Its continued expansion, however, will depend on Hino entering new product sectors as well as continuing to sell more tippers This growth is by no means guaranteed, as all the other manufacturers are now much more switched on to the threat of the newcomer. Key to increasing volume is Hino's new lightweight 300 Series, which goes
head to head with the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter and lsuzu NPR/NOR.Those products are already locked in a battle royal with the traditional European 'small lorry' contenders, and in a market which, after all, is declining quite sharply. O'Neill estimates Mitsubishi, lsuzu and Nissan/Renault are responsible for approximately 2,400 units a year, adding: -if we can manage 10% of that business. I'll be reasonably pleased with our efforts for the year'
The 300 Series, which competes in the 5,500-7,500kg GVW bracket, was launched at the CV Show last year and the first models have only now started to arrive here. As you'll have noticed on page 14, it's a stylish machine which appears to tick all the boxes in the battle against the established competition, not least on payload and driveability.
It will have to, though, because Hino is facing a much stiffer task proving itself in this sector than it did in its traditional eight-wheeler market, which was ripe for a new product. Even now, the availability of the 700 Series heavy truck line-up is a major plus point for the Irishassembled product. While many other manufacturers have already put up the 'sold out for the year' signs, Hino has units available for delivery pretty much immediately. -If you come to us today looking for product, my question will be 'how many do you want? not when can I deliver them?'," O'Neill explains. "We've got mixers and hook-loaders in
the yard ready to drive away, and you may have to wait a week for the tippers to be finished off.
Availability is not a problem.'
Yet any newcomer has to establish a decent network through which to sell and service the product Hino was blessed with being able to inherit many of the ex-Foden dealers this time last year, and they have been instrumental in establishing base camp for the company's assault on this particular mountain.
Hind dealers
So far, there are 20 dealers wearing the Him badge and, according to O'Neill, negotiations are under way for a further four to join the network soon. He expects to be in a position to announce two of these by the middle of April "We've taken the decision that all our dealers should also sell the lightweight product:' he says. Undoubtedly this will be a tougher sell for a network that is geared towards pushing heavy trucks, and will require new tactics. To this end, last year Hino launched Procare, a contract-hire and fleet management package available through the dealer network tt includes a comprehensive fleet management package, as well as Hino Watch, a nationwide mechanical breakdown and recovery service.
With its foothold established. Hino is now pushing for continued growth. At the CV Show next month, it will unveil its 500 Series medium-weight range. Ostensibly this is an 18-tonner forecast to begin arriving in volume in autumn. It will be powered by a 260hp engine linked to a six-speed transmission. There will be short-wheelbase variants for the skip sector and long wheelbases for cargo applications. Rest assured we'll bring you all the details ahead of its show debut at Birmingham The continued success of Hino in the UK is by no means guaranteed. But with a strong product line-up, buoyant sales and a market climate that sees the rest of the players struggling for availability, we would be inclined to expect plenty more growth yet from this rising star. •