Hino gets in on US manufacturing boom

Japanese commercial vehicle company, Hino Motors, has unveiled its new truck manufacturing plant in West Virginia as it looks to increase its investment in Class 6 and Class 8 vehicles in the United States.

Situated in Mineral Springs, the cutting edge factory represents a $100 million capital investment on a site of close to 1 million square feet.

It will generate 250 new jobs.

Hino began manufacturing commercial vehicles in Williamstown, West Virginia in 2007 following the closure of its Long Beach facility, owned by parent company Toyota that same year.

Those operations have been subsumed by the new facility in Mineral Springs.

The Class 7 and Class 8 XL series trucks recently introduced into the US market will be assembled at the plant which is capable of producing 15,000 trucks a year.

A leader in sales of Class 4 trucks in North America where it offers a range – unlike Australia – of bonneted light, medium and heavy duty vehicles, Hino maintains a network of 240 dealers.

Hino Motors Manufacturing US President Takashi Ono said the plant would serve as the manufacturing foundation of Hino Trucks in the United States.

"I'm proud, knowing that from New York to Dallas to Los Angeles, the DNA of Hino Trucks will shine with the passion, dedication and craftsmanship of West Virginians."

"But I believe the greatest accomplishment for us may not be this new plant or the new trucks produced here, but that we managed to keep all of our team members. We could not have asked for a better outcome. You are our greatest asset. It is what you do every day that truly defines Hino."

All of the employees at the Williamstown site were transferred to Mineral Wells.