Hino Australia is preparing for another challenging year in 2025, with steady delivery volumes expected despite ongoing supply constraints and the impact of transitioning its truck line-up to meet Euro 6 emissions standards.
Richard Emery, President and CEO at Hino Motor Sales Australia (HMSA), addressed the situation directly in a recent business briefing.
“We do expect to deliver just over 5,000 units in 2025 — very similar to last year,” Emery confirmed. “In fact, it might be nearly exactly the same, but roughly within 100.”
Despite this stability in sales volume, Emery was candid about the difficulties the brand continues to face. “Although we had been working through some challenges within our Hino business on product supply over the last few years, we do remain number two in the market,” he said. “And that supply issue remains.”
Hino’s recent history has been shaped by emissions compliance issues dating back to 2022, which Emery described as putting the engineering team “on the back foot.” In response, the company undertook an extensive process of recertifying all models sold in Australia — even discontinued ones — in cooperation with the local regulator and global parent HML.
“It’s important to note that all Hino products on sale met the certification requirement without a need for rework,” Emery said. “Despite Hino self-declaring that there was misconduct found in the process, the actual vehicles themselves always met the criteria for sale in Australia.”
But the knock-on effect has been significant delays in readiness for ADR 80/04 and Euro 6 compliance across key models. Emery confirmed that Hino will not meet the introduction deadline for several vehicles, most notably the 500 Series and 300 Series.
“We ceased production of 500 Series late last year, and we have a distinct stock position that will support our retail sales until the end of 2025,” he explained.
He noted that this is not just a volume loss issue — Hino averages around 2,000 units annually for the 500 Series — but also a customer impact issue. “500 Series has been the mainstay of some of our key applications of customers, and we work with them to limit the pain in 2026.”
A similar production gap looms for the 300 Series. “We currently have production in stock of the current specification Euro 5 that should support our sales program for all of this year and into early next year,” Emery said.
Nonetheless, Hino is banking on growth opportunities in other areas — particularly with the Euro 6-compliant 700 Series and its hybrid electric offerings.
Emery described the 700 Series as a “dark horse” that deserves more recognition in the market. “We remain very confident in this truck, and this is backed by our growing order bank and customer interest.”
Hino’s hybrid electric 300 Series is also gaining momentum, especially in the light of increasing fuel prices and tightening emissions requirements.
“If anything, the jury is out for the moment on BEV,” Emery said, pushing back against recent media commentary and competitor remarks. “We think we’ve hit the sweet spot with hybrid, and we think that sweet spot has at least five years head start on BEV.”
Supply has also improved for the hybrid line-up. “We can build as many as we want,” said Emery. “We’re talking over 300 this year. Could we get to 400 plus next year? I think we can head towards four or five hundred over the next couple of years for sure.”
Looking ahead, Emery stressed that Hino’s strategy is focused on building a sustainable business rather than chasing volume for its own sake. “We don’t explicitly want to be number one, nor do we have a volume number in mind embedded into our business strategy,” he said. “Our aim is to balance our business so that we have a robust, sustainable business for Hino, for our dealers and our customers.”
While Hino faces a temporary dip in available models in 2026, the company believes its diversified product portfolio — especially hybrid and Euro 6-compliant trucks — puts it in a strong position to retain its number two ranking in the Australian truck market.
“Ultimately, we believe despite all this, we can sustain number two in the market through the next few years despite those challenges,” Emery concluded. “Because we have good opportunity to increase our volume on 700 Series, and we believe we still have opportunity to increase on 300 Series hybrid electric.”
