Home Fleetwatch 2022 Hino SA aims to grow sales volume by 10% in 2024

Hino SA aims to grow sales volume by 10% in 2024

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Anton Falck, Vice President of Hino South Africa: “We are forecasting to more than double our extra-heavy truck sales from the 377 units sold in 2023 to 750 in 2024 pinning our sales increase on the new Hino 700 range.”
Anton Falck, Vice President of Hino South Africa: “We are forecasting to more than double our extra-heavy truck sales from the 377 units sold in 2023 to 750 in 2024 pinning our sales increase on the new Hino 700 range.”

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 briefing at the Toyota Africa Parts Centre in Ekurhuleni. 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 Hino 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 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.

New offering

Falck made an important announcement of a new offering from Hino SA in the extra-heavy truck segment. 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.

An insightful presentation on the workings of the impressive Toyota Africa Parts Centre which manages 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 was also given. (FleetWatch will highlight more of this part of Hino’s operations in a future edition). 

Hino Hybrid

Falck also outlined 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.

Following successful pilot tests of the Hino Hybrid, one of the demo test units has now been put into full operation within the Toyota organisation. Here Anton Falck (right), Vice President of Hino South Africa, hands over the keys to Anand Pather, Vice President, Customer Service for Toyota South Africa Motors. Further demo units will be tested at coastal conditions before full market introduction.
Following successful pilot tests of the Hino Hybrid, one of the demo test units has now been put into full operation within the Toyota organisation. Here Anton Falck (right), Vice President of Hino South Africa, hands over the keys to Anand Pather, Vice President, Customer Service for Toyota South Africa Motors. Further demo units will be tested at coastal conditions before full market introduction.

“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,” said Falck.

New General Manager

The occasion was also used to announce the appointment of Itumeleng “Tumi” Segage as General Manager at Hino South Africa. The appointment follows the retirement of Pieter Klerck who will now be honing his fishing skills in Mossel Bay.

Itumeleng, who will be reporting to Anton Falck, has been working in the motor industry for over 18 years and has extensive experience in all aspects of the business, with an in-depth knowledge of the dealer network.

Itumeleng “Tumi” Segage has taken up the position of General Manager at Hino South Africa.
Itumeleng “Tumi” Segage has taken up the position of General Manager at Hino South Africa.

He began his career at Hino SA in 2006 and has occupied various positions at Hino in marketing, aftersales, demand planning, pricing, dealer sales and network as a manager and senior manager. His most recent post, prior to his recent move back to Hino, was as Senior Regional Manager for the Central Region at Toyota SA Motors. He has a BCom in Business Management and a BCom in Marketing Management.

New man from Japan

A warm welcome was also extended to Masafumi Kawabata of Hino Motors Japan who has been appointed Senior Executive Co-Ordinator of Hino South Africa. He takes over from Yusonori Otani, who served in this position from February 2020 and is now returning to Japan.

Masafumi Kawabata of Hino Motors Japan has been appointed Senior Executive Co-Ordinator of Hino South Africa.
Masafumi Kawabata of Hino Motors Japan has been appointed Senior Executive Co-Ordinator of Hino South Africa.

He has been working for Hino since 2006, having started his career with North American businesses for 12 years which included being transferred to Hino Motors Sales USA for six years where he was in the department responsible for business planning, vehicle sales, demand & supply, pricing, and aftermarket parts sales.

His next career move saw him taking responsibility for the global product planning of Heavy Commercial Trucks in 2019 and in his most recent position, he was based in Japan as Project Manager for Extra Heavy Commercial Trucks and Buses in markets outside Japan.