The good folk at Hino SA have every reason to walk around with peacock-proud chests having chalked up a number of local and international awards for 2024.
On the local front, having an independent market research house engage directly with truck OEM customers to ascertain respective customer satisfaction levels helps elevate the industry as a whole. The DataTrack Comparative Truck Study is a fine example of this, with Hino South Africa continuing to top the survey’s 2024 customer service rankings.
The quarterly DataTrack Comparative Truck Study has been conducted since 1989 with the results compiled from feedback collected from more than 30 000 truck operators in South Africa. Hino South Africa has continued its dominance of the quarterly DataTrack customer service survey, filling top positions in all aspects of the research for each of the first two quarters of 2024.
Hino scored 99.26% and 99.42% respectively in the combined scores for the first two quarters of 2024, which put it comfortably ahead of the runners-up in each quarter. Hino’s scores in sales were 99.68% and 100%, while scores for service were 99.90 % and 98.89%, while parts scores were 99.10% and 99.38%.
“Not only was Hino top in the combined score for each quarter but also headed the tables for the various segments, being sales, service and parts,” says Itumeleng Segage, Hino general manager. “This is an amazing testament to the commitment and dedication of our dealer staff as well as the team members working at the Hino head office and at our state-of-the-art parts warehouse in Ekurhuleni.”
As professional truck transporters will attest, efficient after-sales service with qualified and well-trained technicians, backed up by a comprehensive stock of service and replacement parts, are vital for containing the total cost of ownership of a truck and for improving the overall profitability of the operation.
“That is what we at Hino South Africa are continually striving to do, and the positive results in the DataTrack surveys for the first two quarters of 2024 are proof of that,” says Segage.
Making history
Staying on the local front, Hino SA made history at the 2024 Dealer Satisfaction Index award ceremony when it won a Platinum award for the sixth successive year and this time it was the first company to be given a rating of more than 90% by its dealer network. This annual survey has been conducted with franchised commercial vehicle dealers by the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) since 2008.
“The DSI is a crucial benchmark for measuring dealer satisfaction across various automotive brands and this year there was participation from 183 commercial vehicle dealerships,” says Segage. “Winning a Platinum award for the sixth time and this year topping the results table with a record high score, was a great achievement and underlines the magnificent working relationship that exists between the Hino team members and the staff at the 63 dealers in our network.”
Bobby Pringle, Chairperson of the Hino South Africa Dealer Council, says that he and his fellow dealers are extremely proud of this excellent performance by Hino South Africa and the Hino brand in the extremely competitive truck market in South Africa.
Platinum DSI awards are given to brands with a score of 85.0 or above and this year Hino was the only commercial vehicle brand to achieve this level of satisfaction. Six brands reached Gold award status (75.0 – 84.9) with one Silver award (70.0 – 74.9) and one Bronze award (65.0 – 69.9).
International award
The somewhat rhetorical phrase, “when you’re hot, you’re hot!” conjures up another chestnut – “nothing succeeds like success!” and both are applicable to Hino South Africa with the company’s local winning streak augmenting a string of awards in 2024 from its Japanese principle, Hino Motors Limited in Japan.
Hino South Africa has once again won Global Service and Parts Distributor of the Year Awards from Hino Motors Limited in Japan. This is the 13th consecutive year that Hino SA has won these two accolades which are contested by Hino distributors worldwide. Hino SA also won an award from HML for its sales effort in 2024.
“Each distributor is scored monthly against a set of criteria for each discipline and these scores are then totalled for the year. The score must be a minimum of 80% of target to get an award,” explains Sudesh Sanilall, Hino SA’s senior manager – Customer Services.
“Some of the criteria for the Service Distributor of the Year Award are customer experience ratings, workshop productivity measuring efficiency and profitability for the dealer network and Hino SA itself. The Parts Distributor of the Year Award is based on specific criteria set out by HML to deliver an excellent parts supply to dealers and customers, including the ability to supply parts on first request, stock holding and emergency parts supply by Hino SA and the dealer network,” explained Sanilall.
According to Segage, Hino SA enjoys a huge advantage in the market when it comes to parts supply as Hino parts are stored and managed in the state-of-the-art Toyota Africa Parts Centre in Ekurhuleni which is shared with Toyota SA Motors.
“This recently enlarged facility now covers 80 000m2, making it the largest warehouse of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. It serves not only South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, and Lesotho, but also 36 other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa besides a further six international export markets,” he says.
“The whole operation is digital and much of it automated to ensure quick response times to dealer orders. There are also special arrangements to fast-track vehicle-off-road (VOR) orders to ensure minimum downtime for our customers. Dealers located within a 100km radius from the TAPC get two deliveries a day and other dealers get daily deliveries. Besides getting parts quickly, the dealers also benefit from a 96% first time pick rate in the warehouse,” added Segage.
In FleetWatch’s estimations, the investments made by Hino (and Toyota) in South African dealership talent and top-flight warehousing infrastructures are huge contributors to Hino SA’s leadership in international customer service and satisfaction ratings. By focusing on continuous improvement in sales, truck servicing and parts provision, Hino SA has set an enviable benchmark, underpinned by solid partnerships with its customers. Well done to all Hino SA personnel!
