Hino is set to spend millions on new and upgraded facilities
Hino Motor Sales Australia (HMSA) will make a concerted pitch at the market with a series of dealership investments in coming months.
The local arm of the Japanese make expects increased involvement from five of Australia’s largest automotive and commercial vehicle retail groups.
“During 2017 and 2018, we will open three new Hino dealerships and upgrade four existing sites to meet increased demand,” Hino Australia general manager – brand and franchise development Bill Gillespie says.
“It is significant that we have increased investment from five of Australia’s largest automotive and commercial vehicle retail groups in key locations across the country.”
These will be Automotive Holding Group (AHG) in Coffs Harbour, Sci Fleet at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm, CMV Group Laverton, near Melbourne, AP Eagers at Mascot in Sydney and the Suttons facility at Arndell Park in Sydney’s west.
“To cope with increased demand for truck sales, parts and service in western Sydney, we recently opened a brand new dealership in Arndell Park,” Gillespie says.
“Further up the eastern seaboard, there are brand new purpose-built Hino dealerships in Coffs Harbour and Brisbane.”
At more than 32,000 square metres, the recently renovated CMI Hino site in Melbourne is not only the largest standalone dealership for the Japanese manufacturer in Australia, but it is one of the largest Hino dealerships in the world, the company notes.
Hino customers in Launceston, Townsville and Mascot are already have upgraded dealerships in their areas.
“This is all a huge lift in capability for Hino – we are essentially adding three standalone Hino dealerships in the three largest capital cities in Australia,” Gillespie says.
“With over 60 dealerships and service centres strategically placed across the country, we have increased our capacity to provide excellent service and after-sales support for our customers, and we know this is of particular interest to our fleet customers.
Hino believes the investment is already paying dividends soon after it launched the all-new medium duty 500 Series Wide Cab earlier in the year, and the firm will end 2017 with the arrival of the highly-anticipated 300 Series 4×4 light duty truck.
“Orders from our dealerships are running at levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis in 2007/08 and we expect this to translate to retail sales in the coming months,” Gillespie says.