The newly minted joint venture company that now runs both Fuso and Hino has revealed this week that its two truck brands are co-operating in a Japanese government program aimed at accelerating the use of Level 4 autonomous trucks for freight transport on Japan’s motorways.
Archion Group said that its two commercial vehicle brands will support Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Autonomous Truck Implementation Support Project, which it says is focused on the early social implementation of freight movement using Level 4 autonomous trucks on highways.
Hino and Fuso will participate as heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers under the program, supporting the safety foundation needed for autonomous truck deployment.
It said that both companies will cooperate with the Expressway Autonomous Truck Transport Operations Council, while Hino will also cooperate with the L4 Logistics Autonomous Driving Trailer Promotion Council and the Toyota Tsusho Consortium.
Archion said that the announcement builds on previous autonomous truck work by both Hino and Fuso.
From 2021 through to last year, both companies participated in what they describe as ‘Theme 3 of the Road to the L4 project’, which was an initiative promoted by the Japanese Government department and was focused on the practical application of high-performance trucks on motorways, and the broader social implementation of Level 4 autonomous trucks.
Both companies also supported a separate 2025 program which related to the development of digital lifelines, including autonomous driving service support roads.
Archion said that as part of that work, Hino and Fuso helped develop a business proposal for oint transport on trunk-routes, using autonomous-driving tractors.
According to Archion the work will also be a part of a broader effort to combine the commercial vehicle development, production and sales foundations for Hino and Fuso following their management integration.
The group said it intends to advance joint development across connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicle technologies, including autonomous driving, while working with partners including Daimler Truck and Toyota.
