An exclusive report from MOTORINDIA
Hino Motors of the Toyota Group is enlarging its presence in the Indian market. The company entered the Indian market in 2009 by launching its trucks. It had set aggressive growth plans for the Indian market. Unfortunately the tsunami that hit Japan and the floods in Thailand, a major manufacturing base for Hino, severely impacted the production plans globally. As a result, the company’s plans for India where put on hold.
Having overcome these issues, Hino is once again sharpening its focus on the Indian market. Hino Motors India has used the last few years in conducting exhaustive study of various applications in the commercial vehicle segment and has understood the customer expectations and the shortfall therein. The study findings have led Hino India to primarily focus on highly demanding customers appreciating value for money.
Hino has identified specific segments, having maximum dissatisfaction points resulting in consequential loss of productivity. One such segment is the 25-ton segment. Hino has the right product to address these areas and hence is catering to the requirements of selective applications and customer profile.
Hino had initially launched its 25-tonner 6×4 and 6×2 trucks. The company has chalked out a plan to gradually expand its product matrix and consistently capture the market in almost the entire range of products, like in other established markets worldwide.
Mr. Minoru Fujiwara, Managing Director & CEO, Hino Motor India, says: “We reiterate that Hino is committed to the Indian project, and the process of zeroing in on the product matrix for Indian road & load conditions is already on”.
From just a couple of Indian manufacturers till the end of 90s, the Indian commercial vehicle industry is today home for more than an dozen global and domestic manufacturers. Practically all the global CV majors have set up or are in the process of launching their trucks and buses in India. They come up with their own strategy with some focusing on the mass market segment and others on specific niche applications.
Hino has tried to identify specific applications which have been hitherto not sufficiently addressed by other manufacturers. Mr. Dinesh Chandra Upadhyay, General Manager – Marketing & Sales, Hino Motor India, says: “We have seeded our trucks in the Indian market for specific applications, where we felt that customers have lots of pain points in the existing products. Some of these applications are tippers used in iron ore mining and trucks used in the cold chain transportation segment. Hino products have been performing extremely well and have been able to successfully address all the pain points. We are now flooded with active enquiries from not only these segments but from other segments as well”.
Hino has sold over 300 trucks in India till date, 200 of which are tipper trucks and the balance used for other applications.
Mr. Susumu Myokan, Director & Vice President, Hino Motor India, observes: “Hino trucks have been preferred by the Indian customer, thanks to the product features related to safety and economy of operations, besides virtually 100% fleet utilization efficiency. All these have been highly appreciated by our valued customers. Moreover, driving comfort with state-of-the-art air-conditioned and crash-tested cabin ensures safety of the drivers, making Hino models the best choice in the commercial vehicle segment”.
Hino tipper trucks have performed particularly well in the iron ore mining segment. Mr. Upadhyay says: “Yes, due to the fact that Hino tippers have addressed all the pain points in the existing models, there has been great demand for Hino tippers, mainly for applications having difficult working conditions and high anticipated productivity”.
The high performance Hino tippers have been in operation in the iron ore mines of Karnataka. The performance of these tippers has surpassed all parameters of the existing models, and they have been perceived as undisputed product leader for iron ore mining application. Customers have reposed their confidence in them by standardizing Hino tippers for their future requirements in the vicinity. Hino has also had good success in the iron ore mines in Goa.
Lignite mining and transportation is yet another application, where Hino tippers have been perceived to be highly economical, besides improved productivity, low cost of maintenance and high life time value.
Even in the road construction segment, which is highly price sensitive, the Hino tipper has made inroads despite higher initial investments as it is best suited for the application, offering better productivity and economy of operation.
In the 6×2 haulage segment, the identified applications are cold chain, beverages and petroleum product transportation, which are highly demanding in terms of safety, timely delivery, turnaround time and reliability.
Entering bus segment
Even while entering India, Hino had made its intention clear that the bus segment will be an important area of focus for the company. Mr. Fujiwara says: “We have inducted 4 Super Luxury buses in India thru one of the renowned and largest bus operators of Mumbai with a view to keeping a close watch on the performance of Hino buses vis-à-vis other brands in India. We shall review the situation in the bus segment a little later and finalize the specifications most suited for Indian passengers. However, our immediate priority would be the goods segment”.
Mr. Myokan adds: “We have a very ambitious plan for India and shall do everything required to fulfill the ever-growing demand of Indian customers. Currently the trucks are imported from its global facilities, but Hino is actively working on developing a vendor network in India. Keeping in view the quality of products manufactured by Indian vendors which meet international standards, we intend to source the components for other countries also from India, in order to economize on procurement and further finetune our product pricing”.
Hino Motor India has established sales and service facility at six different locations across India. Depending on the vehicle park it will expand the sales and service network once it is equipped to meet the challenges of mass market products in India. Hino dealers are providing very strong service support to its valued customers”.
Asked about the service support for its tippers particular working in the iron ore mines, Mr. Upadhyay says: “We fully appreciate the need for ‘at site support’ for tippers and our service support for tipper market is second to none. We are proud to say that after the induction of Hino tippers, productivity loss due to non-availability of tippers on account of frequent failures and maintenance etc., has gone down to almost zero”.
Mr. Fujiwara further says: “Our strength, as demonstrated globally, lies in the superiority of the product and consequent accrual of a bundle of benefits to the valued customers. Hino offers value for money, and hence we are absolutely confident of our success in India and are ready to face the healthy competition with other global players operating in India. We will keep pace to meet the other challenges in the fast growing market in India”.