Hino South Africa made a very satisfying end to the first quarter of 2015 by posting all-time record monthly sales for the Hino brand, with a particularity strong showing in the medium commercial vehicle market. Total sales of Hino and Dyna trucks in March amounted to 523 units for a 16.9% share of the market.

However, it was in the MCV market, where Hino and Dyna have been a leader for many years, that sales really boomed and 333 units were retailed in the month, which equated to a 30.2% share of a strong market of 1104 units. Hino sold 139 trucks in the heavy category for a 24% share, while sales in the highly competitive extra-heavy category were up to 51 units and a 3.9% share.

The monthly total of 523 units was made up of 489 Hino units and 34 Dyna light trucks and was an 18.8% improvement over the 425 units sold in March 2014, while the total truck market grew by only 8% from 2 863 units in March 2014 to 3 093 units last month.

Sales in March 2015 were, in fact, the second highest in the history of Hino SA and its predecessor, Toyota SA Trucks. The previous high point was achieved in April 2008 with total sales of 655 units, made up of 339 Toyota Dyna and 316 Hino trucks as this was before the renaming of the company to Hino SA and the majority of the Dyna models becoming the Hino 300-Series, which took place in 2009.

This strong performance cemented Hino SA’s position as an important member of the global Hino family. Last year South Africa moved up Hino’s country ranking table from ninth to eighth position with sales of 3 423 units (excluding Dyna), while Hino itself increased total sales worldwide to 168 348 units, with 66% of sales outside Japan.

More good news for Hino SA came from the Scott Byers Comparative Customer Satisfaction Monitor (CCSM) for the first quarter of 2015. Hino retained the top position on the combined score from the last quarter of 2014 with 96.29%. UD Trucks and Volvo tied for runner-up position on 94.10%, with Scania taking a very close third place on 94.07%.

Important for Hino SA was the fact that the company showed improvement in all categories of the research – sales, service and parts – as well as in the combined score.

“We are very proud of our achievements in the first quarter of 2015, with the major contributing factor being that our factory near Durban is now running at planned capacity, while in the first quarter of last year HIno sales were hampered by stock shortages as we ramped up output at our relocated truck plant,” said Ernie Trautmann, the Vice President of Hino SA.

“The strong sales performance, backed by an excellent showing in the Comparative Customer Satisfaction Monitor gives us a solid foundation on which to build as we continue into 2015.”

Ends