Hino Invests $100 Million In U.S. Operations

Hino announced a $100 million investment plan to strengthen its U.S. operations with the introduction of a new truck line and new facilities.

The plans involve purchasing the former Cold Water Creek distribution center and converting it into a new truck assembly plant in Mineral Wells, W. Va., close to Hino’s current plant. The new plant, expected to be operational in early 2019, will also house cab assembly, an operation currently conducted in Japan.

“The new plant, which is four times the size of our current plant, will allow us to combine several assembly operations under one roof which will provide significant efficiency gains” said Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. President Takashi Ono.

The total investment is expected to create about 250 new jobs in early 2020 over a two-shift operation.

In addition to producing conventional trucks, the new truck assembly plant in West Virginia will produce a new line of Class 7 and 8 trucks which Hino plans to introduce in 2019. The truck will be powered by Hino’s A09, 9 L engine. Already sold in many other markets around the world, the Hino A09 engine will have a horsepower range from 300 to 360 hp.

As part of Hino’s growth plan, Hino broke ground last month on a new state of the art corporate office in Novi, Mich. Hino is consolidating all operations in its new corporate headquarters, including sales, marketing, service, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing. Hino’s Insight Diagnostic Center, which monitors vehicle performance and uptime for all Hino trucks equipped with Insight, will also operate out of the Novi headquarters.