Hino Motors establishes truck plant in
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
– Truck assembly exclusively for North America set for launch in April 2006 –
After a great deal of speculation, Hino Motors Ltd. (www.hinocanada.com) and the City of Woodstock are pleased to announce Hino’s decision to establish a new truck assembly facility in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. Hino (pronounced He-know) is a Toyota group company which has been producing motor vehicles for nearly a century with roots dating back to 1910.
The Woodstock plant will be its second base in North America for truck assembly following its earlier plant in Long Beach California. The Hino brand is well known within the trucking industry and is a popular solution to congested urban conditions. While most will recognize Hino for its straight truck design popularized as a commercial delivery vehicle, the company has recently debuted a city tractor version of the Hino truck.
Woodstock Development Commissioner Len Magyar called the Hino announcement a major win for Woodstock. “We have been working closely with Hino for several months, competing against many of the same jurisdictions we competed against for Toyota. Hino ultimately selected Woodstock because of its high quality work force, excellent transportation infrastructure and proximity to both customers and suppliers.” Magyar also notes that the City sold an additional 5 acres of land to Hino, bringing their total site to 20 acres, in order to help protect the company’s long term interests.
Hino trucks have gained a solid reputation as strong, straightforward, dependable and known for reliability and maneuverability. Hino produces Classes 4, 5, 6 and 7 trucks and now commands 13.3% of the Canadian truck market. By contrast, Hino has achieved substantial market share growth in Japan and held the No. 1 position in the country’s heavy and medium-duty truck market for the 32nd consecutive year since 1973.
Mayor Michael Harding welcomed the long awaited Hino announcement. “The new Hino assembly plant represents the successful continuation of our strategy to diversify the local economy. The Hino investment in our community is significant on a number of fronts. This is an excellent product with a good potential for continued growth in the North American market. The company has sourced many local suppliers to assist in retrofitting the building they now occupy, and the facility will provide good paying jobs for many local people. 85% of employees hired from local labour pool and all employees have now been hired”.
Hino has thus far outsourced the assembly of trucks for the Canadian market, together with trucks for the U.S. market, to TABC, a local production business of Toyota Motor Corp. in California. However, it plans to shorten the delivery time to customers and reinforce its ability to respond to customer demands while also promoting a reduction in distribution costs by establishing the assembly base in Canada.
Canadian Plant Overview
Name: Hino Motors Canada, Ltd
Parent: Hino Motors Canada, Ltd. (Mississauga, Ontario)
President: Hiroyuki Omori
Plant Manager: Joe Beamson (Vice President)
Location: Woodstock, Ontario
Address: 1000 Ridgeway Road
Site Area: Approx. 60,000m2
Total Building Area: Approx. 12,000m2
Production Start: April 2006
Products: Trucks exclusively for North America
Production capacity: 2,000 units/year
Employees: 45 (at the start of production)
Map: link to Google Maps
For more information contact:
Axel Breuer
Vice President
Hino Motors Canada, Ltd.
905-670-3352 ext 241
