Demand for the 300 Series' unique safety and technology features in the light duty truck segment is helping Hino Australia drive sales in a difficult market.
While Truck Industry Council sales figures for the first half of 2014 show a 4.7 per cent downturn in the truck market overall, Hino Australia Divisional Manager, Sales James Morris said efforts to promote the availability of Vehicle Stability Control as standard and genuine automatic gearboxes on the 300 Series is having a positive effect.
"We recognised the potential sales advantage the 300 Series' full automatic gearboxes give us and ran a free automatic transmission upgrade promotion from October last year through to March," Mr Morris said.
"The result was terrific - the promotion, combined with the other outstanding qualities of the 300 Series, generated a 140 per cent increase in sales to retail buyers.
"The interesting thing for Hino is that this increase in sales didn't come at the expense of manual transmission models."
Hino sold a total of 875 light duty trucks in the first half of 2014, or 21.9 per cent of the light duty truck market.
Mr Morris said the 300 Series' position as the safest light duty truck on the Australian market added to the strong result.
"The 300 Series comes with a high level of specification, such as the ergonomically designed cabin, state-of-the-art multimedia unit and the availability of fuel efficient hybrid drivetrains," Mr Morris said.
"However, a recurring theme was the number of customers who chose a Hino 300 Series because they offer the lifesaving Vehicle Stability Control as standard, and a full suite of safety equipment to provide the safest light duty truck working environment.
"The interest in the recently launched High Horsepower 300 Series models should help us continue with strong sales in the light duty segment," he said.
Mr Morris said that the success of the auto upgrade campaign on 300 Series is something Hino plans to replicate with its 500 Series.
"Our 500 Series medium duty models are also equipped with market-leading features, and the quality, durability and reliability that Hino is famous for," he said.
"We believe that there is potential for even better sales for the Hino 500 Series, and we're now running a similar campaign where customers can upgrade to a ProShift Automated Manual Transmission for the price of a manual."