64 10-4 Magazine / June 2025 because there were no barriers between most European countries, the Japanese vehicles assembled in Ireland could be shipped to the UK. However, to be registered in the UK, the trucks had to comply with British Construction & Use Regulations and other criteria. Harris continued to assemble Hino trucks up until around 2014. The reason behind his demise was the fact that Hino had decided not to produce engines that were compliant for the Euro 6 emission regulations – in fact, they had struggled with being compliant with the Euro 5 regulations. Furthermore, Hino had been accused of falsifying engine certification software since 2003, which they later admitted to in 2022, and then agreed to pay a $1.6 billion fine. Over the years, Hino has been linked with other truck manufacturers, like the UK ERF in 1983 and the Dutch DAF in 1992. There were even talks about a joint venture with DAF, but at the time of those talks, the world truck market had gone stagnant. Nevertheless, Hino wanted to break into the European market. In March 2002, Hino and Scania signed a strategic agreement for the purpose of establishing a long-term business alliance, and the first step was for Hino to market Scania tractor units to be sold in Japan. The alliance didn’t last long, and later, Scania began selling their own trucks in Japan under other arrangements. The selling of Hino products is global, with facilities in 90 countries outside of Japan, including Canada, USA, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. In some of these countries, more growth has been seen with truck sales than even in Japan. After marketing trucks there since 1974, Hino opened a new assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada in May 2006. In 1984, Hino entered the US market and established a firm footing, assembling class 4-7 trucks in plants, including Williamstown, West Virginia and Mineral Wells, West Virginia. Today, in the USA, Hino touts a “ultimate ownership experience” with their current L Series and XL Series medium duty trucks. Both models are nicely appointed and have many safety features and power options. Fitted with the proven Cummins B6.7 diesel engine, of which 13 million have been made, and mated to an Allison transmission, the L Series sets the standard for reliability and durability, while the XL Series features the larger Cummins L9 engine, for more power and larger payloads. As a leader in the vocational truck market, Hino trucks are perfect for applications like box vans, wreckers, dump trucks, local fuel delivery, snowplows, ambulances, utility companies and more. Always forward thinking, Hino introduced the first electric-diesel hybrid medium-duty truck to America in 2012. A global technology company called SEA Electric, which was founded in Australia but is now based in the US, developed a proprietary, all-electric, SEA-Drive power system that can be adapted to both urban delivery and big commercial transport fleets worldwide. In 2020, SEA Electric partnered with #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA1MjUy