HINO ‘PREVIEW’ REVEALS PRECIOUS LITTLE THAT WE DON’T ALREADY KNOW

Despite the fact that  its new 700 Series heavy duty trucks have been around since the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show , Hino Australia says it is giving all of a us a sneak preview of  its new heavy hitter, which is due to be launched  in early June  this year.

The company was originally planning on unveiling its local versions of the 700 at the Brisbane Truck Show  in May, but the announcement last week that it was pulling out of the biennial Truck Expo, will mean a re focus on how it launches its important new models.

It is understood that Hino will be packing the new 700s with safety technology, following on from the success of the similar philosophy it has pursued  with its 300 light duty and 500. series medium duty models over the past four years.

We also believe that Hino will launch a Hybrid version of its 700 to answer a small but growing demand from companies seeking a more green solution for various transport operations. The Hybrid 700 or Profia as it is known was unveiled at the Tokyo Show in 2019.

The 700 has been the under performer in Hino’s line up for some years, and has particularly lacked key specs, including an 8×4 variant for waste, construction and agitator applications, which are all major battlegrounds for heavy duty truck makers, with growing demand in these sectors. We have it on good authority that the new 700 series will address this omission with and 8×4 variant set to be a part of the new line up along with new more efficient engines and a range of specs to tackle a wider audience.

Hino says in its so called ‘steak preview’ that the expanded range of  700 Series models will be unveiled in June and will arrive in Hino dealerships  from August.

“Like all Hino products, safety, drivability and comfort will be key features of the new 700 Series, and importantly, there will be an expanded range to suit more customer applications and operating requirements,” said Hino Australia’s manager of product strategy,Daniel Petrovski.

The statement is a bit of a sneak, but its not much of a preview in our eyes. We will wait and see more substantive details when they are revealed in June.