It is fair to say its been a tough year in the truck business, and none more so than the year of pain Hino and its dealers have had to endure as the brand had to cope with virtually no new Euro 6 compatible trucks from its parent company in Japan for much of 2025 and all of this year.
We have to say that the company under the stewardship of its local boss, Richard Emery and his team, has done an amazing job at staunching the bleeding, plugging lots of gaps with some clever planning and re-focussing.
What could have been an abject disaster was nowhere near as bad as most thought it would be, and now Hino is on the edge of a product renaissance that will see new stock flowing through its dealers to fleets hungry for new trucks.
The why’s and wherefores of the lack of supply have been annunciated extensively in the past, so we won’t rake over those coals again. However it was clear the Hino team and its ‘captain’ Emery are starting to breath a bit easier now that its new light duty 300 Series models are filtering into dealerships, and the badly affected medium duty 500 Series range is able to be ordered with delivery from early next year,.
So it was with some anticipation that Hino invited the Aussie truck media corps to the Gold Coast for a drive of its updated and ‘enhanced’ Euro 6/ADR 80/04 complaint 300 Series models. The ADR 80/04 compliance became law in Australia 12 months again on 1 November 2025. While Hino Japan’s supply of 300 Series meeting this rule wasn’t as badly affected or as delayed as its 500 Series models, it was still a handbrake on Hino’s light duty sales.
Let’s be clear the ‘enhanced’ and updated 300s are an evolution, not a revolution. They are a development of an already very good light duty range and not a wholesale redesign. As Hino Australia’s product planning guru, Daniel Petrovski, told at the media drive program, this is about not scaring the buyers away with a revolutionary change, its about maintaining the confidence and satisfaction operators have in the Hino brand.
The main things the updates to Hino’s Euro 6-compliant range of 300 Series has delivered include more available torque along with an increase in towing capacity and GCMs
Hino put together a media test drive program that served to illustrate and emphasise the strengths of the 300 Series, tackling busy morning traffic on wet and slippery Gold Coast urban roads, along with motorway running and an array of B and C roads through the Tweed Valley and the Lamington Mountains to the Gold Coast hinterland, before plunging back into the shelter skelter of the Northern Gold Coast in the afternoon peak.
Throw in some of the most intense rain that South East Queensland has seen in recent times and the drive provided plenty of testing conditions. Fortunately most of the rain came down the day before our drive, with some areas receiving more than 280 mm of rain in the previous 24 hours. By the time we tackled the winding Tweed Valley byways the creeks and rivers had thankfully subsided.
The drive gave us an array of trucks to steer from narrow cabs standard cabs, built to go tippers, light duty traybacks and small pantechs, all of them two-pedal models with an array of improvements that enable a small but significant step up from its predecessors.
“This is it’s a proven product that was first launched in this market with this look in 2011,” Daniel Petrovski told us.
“Euro 5 introduced a lot of safety systems that hadn’t been seen in the light duty market and this is a truck that is trusted, and now it’s been enhanced as well,” Petrovski added.
The initial batch of new 3oo Series is only available in single cab variants, with crew cab models a few more months or so away. Production of the new single cab started in June this year with Hino’s 4-litre 150 hp power plants under the cab.
“The crew cabs are a very important market for us, and we’ll have those and higher horsepower variants in the next wave of updates in 2027,” Petrovski added.
“This is a 300 Series evolution, it is not an all-new model, it’s a Euro 6 update, but it is not just an SCR, a muffler add-on with an AdBlu tank. We’ve taken the opportunity to do quite a few changes,” he said .
“We’ve got a bit more torque out of the engine, which was already by far the leading engine torque-wise, litre for litre versus our competitors’ 3-litre models, with our torque up to 440 Nms. Our opponents are sitting about at about 370 Nms, so apples for apples, back to back, this is a truck that drives really well,” the product planning boss added.
Hino’s new range retains what it claims to be the only truck in the light duty market that has a true auto gearbox with the brand emphasising that it’s competitors have AMTs or dual clutches, and that it reckons it has driven those opposition trucks back to back against its models, and believes its machines drive better.
“It’s something we’ve always believed in, and it’s something that our competitors have always known, and it’s certainly the most desirable, reliable, trusted, and it’s the most proven commercial two-pedal solution, with a sequential shifter ,” Petrovski added.
“So basically you select drive, and you’ll be in drive 99 per cent of the time, but you are able to select gears one through to six, which is very important for downhill descents,” he added.
The new Hinos also have other improvements including LED headlamps LED fault lamps now standard on all normal models, and LED daytime running lights on all diesel models.
Hino says it had to manage some chassis repackaging, adding the AdBlu tank and the new muffler unit, as well as adjusting fuel tank capacities and locations
The latest standard cab hybrid model also now has taller diff ratio, which Hino admits sounds like a small thing, but it actually delivers a five per cent improvement in fuel consumption. However we didn’t get to drive the Hybrid models, that will come later.
“So now that is the same as in the wide cabin, because the standard cab was always targeted at city operation, but we’ve got a lot more customers who are now doing urban and regional type operation in hybrids, so we’ve made sure that that RPM at 100km/h was brought down,” Petrovski said.
The brand says that while there are a lot of small changes with this update, they say there will be a whole host of new built-to-go products, starting in Q1, with crew cabin high horsepower models in June production.
The Hino media drive fleet we experienced numbered six trucks, ranging from car licence models, in standard cab and wide cab, up to the 916 model with its eight tonne GVM.
All of the new automatic transmission models now boast a 3.5tonne towing capacity, which in the past were at maximum eight tonne GCM maximum, but with Euro six and the other changes to the engine and the transmission, this now goes up to 11.5 tonne GCM, which Hino reckons is something that’s going to open up a lot of sales for it.
“The strength and reliability of the Hino automatic transmission combined with the increase in engine torque of the Euro 6 Hino N04C engine allows us to now offer a minimum of 3.5 tonne towing across the range and a GCM of up to 11,500kg on selected 300 Series diesel models.
“For operators driving the car-licenced 616 standard or wide cab models which have a GVM of 4,49 tonnes, this equates to a towing capacity of 3,5 tonnes and a GCM of 7,99 tonnes.
“This will particularly suit tradespeople and/or municipal or local government operators who prefer the ease of a true automatic transmission combined with a need for strong towing capabilities,” he said.
“Certainly in the case of the tipper, and in the councils market with automatic transmission, that’s a massive advance,” Petrovski said..
“These are important steps to further increase the appeal of the 300 Series to our customers across all light-duty applications,” he said.
“Over the years, our six-speed automatic transmission in its various generational updates has been the most desired transmission for light-duty drivers and operators alike.
“It has proven itself to be an outstanding performer and is arguably the most trusted, robust and reliable two-pedal transmission in the Australian light-duty truck market,” he added.
Our experience on the media drive the six-speed automatic ws that it did work seamlessly, particularly coupled to the company’s N04C four-litre diesel to deliver that extra torque mentioned earlier, and of course with an auto that delivers uninterrupted torque between gear changes, meaning it has a better level of power and efficiency for a range of applications including city and urban deliveries, trades and regional freight.
Hino also continues its range of Built to Go range drive-away truck deals, which it says was already extensive including the range of tray and tipper models.
“Following a customer and dealer feedback process we are currently finalising a number of 300 Series prototypes including steel tray and van bodies from one of our Australian body building partners, Alltruck Bodies.
“In 2027, the range of Built to Go products across our 300 Series light-duty, 500 Series medium-duty and 700 Series heavy-duty trucks will further expand to cover applications and industries that we are not currently providing turnkey solutions for,” he said.
Hino has continued its line of standard SmartSafe safety systems which includes a Pre-Collision System (PCS) with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Pedestrian Detection (PD) and Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS).
These are in addition to Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), reverse camera, dual SRS airbags, four-wheel disc brakes and a UN ECE R29 crash test strength certified cab.
Hino has also enhanced the interior cab comfort levels with what it describes as an ergonomically-designed driving environment with a full-adjustable driver’s seat, tilt and telescopically adjustable steering wheel, easy-to-reach controls, a driver instrument panel with large, centralised speedometer and tachometer plus a 4.2 inch TFT LCD Multi Information Display.
Ride comfort is very good even over bumpy, potholed and flood affected roads through the Gold Coast Hinterland. It is a significant step up and one that is noticeable and will be a plus for drivers battling the poor condition of our roads, both major and minor.
The cab also features a 10.1-inch ultra-high-definition Multimedia Unit with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, making the interface with information and entertainment much simpler and safer while drivers are managing their work day. It is one of the simpler and better designed infotainment interfaces we have encountered in light trucks.
The brand also emphasised the customers benefits that come from its Hino customer care program, which it calls Hino Advantage, and which it describes as a “total support system designed to maximise business uptime”.
This program includes five years or 250,000 kilometres of standard warranty (whichever comes first) as well as five years roadside assist and capped price servicing using genuine Hino parts.
“Customers can also explore finance options from Hino Financial Services, who are experienced in the unique demands of truck and transport businesses,” said Mr Petrovski.
It was a testing media drive, albeit relatively short, but long enough to clearly demonstrate another step forward in the evolution of Hino’s light truck range. We can’t wait to see what is in store with the updated 500 Series medium duty range when it lands next year.
Bravo Hino good job.
