Hino Motor to Launch Local Production of Region-Exclusive Vehicles
to Enter the US and Chinese Markets on a Large Scale
Hino is promoting a complementary system in cooperation with Toyota
in the ASEAN region with a target local-content rate of 50%

  The following are the recent trends of Hino Motors (referred to here as Hino) which will enter the US medium-duty truck market on a large scale within 2003. Its sales volume decreased by 50% to 35,117 units in 1998 due to a sharp shrink of the medium-duty truck market in Japan and every other ASEAN country. However, some positive factors are helping these decreased sales to gradually recover. Included is the of 2t-class trucks like the Dutro, marketed through joint development with Toyota in 1999. The projected target volume of 72,530 units for FY2003 exceeds the result of 71,019 units for FY1997.

  Hino's long-term sales goal is 150,000 units worldwide in 2010, which is more than twice as much as the current sales volume. This will allow Hino to become one of the top five makers worldwide in the over 3t truck market. The sales goal in the US market, where Hino plans to enter, is 30,000 units in 2010, while results for 2002 were 1,695 units. The sales goal in the Chinese market, where Hino will start joint production with a promising partner, Chunlan Group, is 20,000 to 30,000 units in 2010. Hino also set its sales goal at 30,000 to 40,000 units in Asia including its core bases in the ASEAN region, Thailand and Indonesia, where Hino established separate manufacturing and sales business structures.

  An agreement of cooperation was formed between Hino and Scania in March 2002, however, no announcement has yet been made regarding any specific actions. Hino also formed an agreement of cooperation with Isuzu for the domestic bus business in January 2002 and set up a joint venture through their investment in October 2002 to start their business in October 2003.

■The projected sales between 2003 and 2005 show a recovery to the same level as FY1997

  Hino set its projected sales goal between 2003 and 2005 in expectation of a significant increase of the domestic sales in FY2003 followed by a decrease in FY2004. These projections account for the effect of the NOx/PM regulations to be implemented in the metropolitan area in October 2003 and the reaction that they will receive. The projected overseas sales increase can be compared to those which were established in its three-year plan that was announced one year ago.

  The total sales volume including the domestic and overseas sales is set at 72,500 units, 74,000 units and 85,000 units from FY2003 to 2005 respectively. These volumes do not include the Toyota vehicles on a commissioned production basis. They are almost the same level as the period from FY1996 to 1997 when the medium-duty truck market had not yet significantly shrunken in Japan and other ASEAN countries. Hino's projected volume for FY2005, excluding that of its 2t-class light duty truck, the Dutro, marketed in 1999, is close to the results for FY1997.

■Toyota will delegate development and production of its 1.5t to 2t-class light trucks to Hino around 2006

Toyota decided to delegate the development and production of its light trucks to Hino, one of its group companies, around 2006 as a target period under its policy. Hino's president, Mr. Jagawa, revealed the company's mid-term business plan during a news conference on 29th May.   Toyota's 2t-class light trucks, the Dyna and ToyoAce, had been developed and manufactured mainly by Hino under commission from Toyota since 1999. The results from the commissioned production by Hino was approximately 20,000 units in FY2002. The policy states that approximately 2,000 more 2t-class trucks, which are currently manufactured by Toyota Auto Body under commission from Toyota, and 1.5t-class trucks will also be contracted out to Hino for their development and production. The annual sales volume of Toyota's 1.5t-class trucks is approximately 20,000 units.

Source: Nihon Keizai Shinbun 03.5.30

■Hino's medium and light truck sales by payload

(Units)

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	02.1-6	03.1-6
Over 12t 9~12t	9,755 8,105	4,757 3,055	4,777 2,728	6,586 1,517	7,187 6	6,559 62	3,135 0	4,462 0
7~8t 5~6t	4,911 1,066	2,060 489	1,755 497	1,851 440	1,816 381	1,789 325	937 169	1,040 201
3~4t Tractor	29,347 2,630	12,360 971	11,930 1,101	10,567 1,270	11,602 1,267	11,317 1,109	5,619 552	7,228 830
Medium Trucks Total	55,814	23,692	22,788	22,231	22,259	21,099	10,412	13,854
Ranger Dutro	5,510	3,667	1,270 4,339	34 8,035	1 10,077	0 10,099	0 4,936	0 5,442
Light Truck Total	5,510	3,667	5,609	8,069	10,078	10,099	4,936	5,442
Grand Total	61,324	27,359	28,397	30,300	32,337	31,198	15,348	19,296
Dyna Dyna/Toyoace Toyoace	41,258 14,899	20,426 7,038	14,331 6,491 5,455	8,629 14,894 4,932	4,528 19,727 2,480	274 22,751 14	153 10,281 7	151 15,504 0
Toyota's light truck	56,157	27,464	26,277	28,455	26,735	23,039	10,441	15,655

Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA)
Note: "Toyota's light truck" stands for only truck type, excluding RV, Van and 1-Box types.

■Hino may supply engines to Scania for its medium trucks and buses

  Hino formed an agreement of cooperation with Sweden Scania in March 2002, though no announcement has yet been made regarding any specific actions. It seems that many matters are still under review. However, it has been reported that there will be possible action such as:
  - Marketing the Scania vehicles in Japan, which had been discussed since the agreement was established.
  - Engine supplies to Scania for its medium trucks and buses
    (although Scania's model lineup is more focused on 16t plus heavy trucks).
  - Test sales of the Hino vehicles through Scania's sales network in Korea.

■Hino will produce 45,000 engines per year; a result from the engine supply to Nissan Diesel and Scania for medium vehicles

■Starting engine supplies to Scania for its medium vehicles in 2005.   Scania will use Hino's V6-cylinder diesel engines with a 8L displacement for its medium trucks and buses. Hino's common rail system engines will be also used for vehicles where model changeovers are required to meet Europe's emission regulations that come into force 2005. The volume of Hino's engines to be supplied to Scania is expected to be at most 15,000 units per year.   Hino will also start engine supplies to Nissan Diesel with 13,500 medium-class engines per year in 2004 when new models that will comply with Japan's new short-term emission regulations will be launched, according to the agreement in May 2001. The total engine production for medium vehicles is expected to be approximately 45,000 units per year. This includes those which mounted to the Hino models and those which supplied to Scania and Nissan Diesel. (Source: Hino Press Release 01.5.21 and Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.1.21)

■Test sales of Hino's medium trucks through Scania's sales network in Korea.   Hino will use the sales network of its partner, Scania, to start test sales of medium trucks under Hino's brand names in Korea in the fall of 2003. Vehicles used for test sales have simple equipment exclusive to the Korean market in order to reduce the cost. It will be the first time that Hino markets its vehicles in Korea. Hino schedules to broadly market them through Scania's sales network after implementing the test sales. (Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.5.19)

■Setting up a taskforce to support domestic sales for the Scania vehicles.   Scania Taskforce was established in the Hino Operation Department in June 2002 to promote actions including the preparation to launch the Scania vehicles in the Japanese market. Prior to this launch, the Scania vehicles will be launched under Hino brand names within 2003 in the project.

■Agreed on cooperation with Scania in March 2002.   Hino and a heavy truck and bus maker in Sweden, Scania, signed an agreement of cooperation in March 2002. An agreement of cooperation does not include capital involvement such as cross-shareholding. The essentials of the agreement were announced as follows. (Source: Hino Press Release 02.3.25)   (1) Aiming at establishing a long-term cooperative relationship for further mutual growth.   (2) Enhancing product marketability and cost competitiveness through their mutual complementary      system in products and sales regions.   (3) Combining their environmental technologies and know-how to bring further advantages in the      diesel engine area.   (4) Present challenges to be reviewed.       1. Complementary sales of Scania's tractors under the Hino brand name in the Japanese market.       2. Jointly reviewing possible usage of Hino's 7 to 8L engines for Scania's products.       3. Technology exchange in the engine emission technology area.

■Hino will start local production of hood engine type vehicles exclusive to the North American market in 2004 with a sales goal of 10,000 units for 2006

  Hino announced a detailed project to enter the US medium truck market on a large scale in May 2003. The vehicles exclusive to North America will be exported from Japan beginning in 2003, followed by local production in the US in 2004. The target sales are 10,000 units in 2006. This project is carried out based on cooperation with Toyota for production and a new alliance with the US Penske Group for sales. The models exclusive to North America have not yet been revealed. However, Hino's announcement made in 2002 stated that they would not be cab-over-engine types which were the same as Hino's existing models, but conventional types (hood-engine types), which are the mainstream in the US market.

■Hino enters the US market by introducing the vehicles exclusive to North America and the local production

■Vehicles exclusive to North America will be marketed in 2003 followed by local production in the US in 2004 and sales of 10,000 units in 2006

Hino restructured its sales joint venture with Mitsui, Hino Diesel Trucks (U.S.A.) Inc, through the alliance with the US Penske Automotive group in May 2003 to strengthen the sales system for the already-developed vehicles exclusive to North America in order to enter the US market on a large scale. The plan includes marketing of the vehicles exclusive to North America in 2003, shifting the production from Japan to a local production base in October 2004 and sales of 10,000 units in 2006. As part of the plan, the 4t-class medium trucks newly developed for the US market will be exported and sold in October 2003.

The Penske group has established a record in the areas of the commercial vehicle lease and rental, passenger car sales and car racing in the US. This group has sales of US$11 billion and 32,000 employees worldwide on a consolidated basis, as well as a close relationship with Toyota for a long time.

■The outline of the alliance is described as follows: 1. Capital increase in Hino Diesel Trucks (USA) Inc and capital involvement by the Penske group: The capital in Hino Diesel Trucks (USA) Inc increased from US$8 million to 22 million. This capital increase allows the shareholdings to be broken down into Hino 50%, the Penske group 25%, Mitsui 12.5% and the US Mitsui 12.5%. 2. The areas to cooperate with the Penske group   (1) Dealing with the Hino vehicles in the Penske group's lease and rental divisions. (2) Setting up sales shops in areas where no sales shops exist. (3) Bringing Penske's senior vice president of sales and marketing into Hino.

■The company name changed at the time of reorganization. Hino Diesel Trucks (U.S.A.) Inc ⇒ Hino Motors Sales U.S.A. Inc

■Hino Motors International (U.S.A.) Inc. performing parts supply business for Latin America changed its name to Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc. with a capital increase from US$ 1.5 million to 7.5 million (Hino's wholly owned subsidiary). This company was restructured as a manufacturing company with the following operations.   (1) Manufacturing components used for Toyota's local plants in a newly established plant.Total investment amounts to approximately 10 billion yen. The components to be manufactured include suspension-related parts for Toyota's light trucks (150,000 units of wheel shafts to support tires per year, which are currently produced in Hino's Hamura Plant in Japan), as well as undercarriages and hoods for Hino's medium trucks exclusive to the US market. (2) Commission production for the vehicles exclusive to North America utilizing Toyota group's production base, TABC, in October 2004. (3) Parts procurement for these vehicles.

Source: Hino Press Release (03.5.29) and Nihon Keizai Shinbun 03.5.17

  Hino's sales goal for the US market is 10,000 units for 2006, which is the same level that Isuzu achieved in imported car sales between 2000 and 2001. The target share in the medium truck market would be 4 to 5%. The long-term sales goal for 2010, that is 30,000 units, is equivalent to the recent sales results made by GM and DCX's subsidiary, Freightliner. That means Hino may become one of the top five commercial vehicle makers in the US market or could be one of the top three if it always its ultimate goal.

■New medium trucks (Class 4-7) sales volumes by makers in the US

(Units)

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	02.1-5	03.1-5
GM Ford	34,102 64,583	34,607 60,064	42,574 73,193	41,490 68,068	36,127 55,452	29,757 46,783	14,141 21,509	10,736 18,456
Freightliner Navistar Paccar	20,086 61,949 2,082	34,168 64,231 2,180	47,782 69,617 3,463	46,265 67,211 4,000	41,117 52,647 4,076	33,866 44,517 5,097	14,312 18,678 2,137	15,521 19,252 2,313
Volvo Mack	330 1,292	15 1,545	1 1,511	1,126	602	699	234	292
Hino Isuzu (Domestic) Isuzu (Import) Mitsubishi Fuso Nissan Diesel	1,102 6,797 3,102 2,163	1,453 1,742 8,216 3,494 3,082	1,564 3,134 9,367 3,800 2,868	1,984 3,098 10,075 3,343 2,279	1,500 3,867 9,726 3,115 1,665	1,695 2,556 6,690 2,959 1,634	672 1,074 2,951 1,285 690	744 836 2,599 1,402 595
Japanese 4 Brands Total	13,164	17,987	20,733	20,779	19,873	15,534	6,672	6,176
Others				1,426	499
Total Medium Duty	197,588	214,797	258,874	250,365	210,393	176,253	77,683	72,746

Source:	Ward's Automotive Reports
Note 1.	Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso and Nissan Diesel included in four Japanese brands deal with imported cars only.
2.	Freightliner includes a total of three makers (Freightliner, Stering and Western Star).
3.	Paccar include a total of two makers (Kenworth and Peterbilt)
4.	No sale results of heavy trucks (Class 8) was yielded in the four Japanese makers. Hino's medium truck sales by Class are shown below.

■Hino's new medium truck sales volumes by Class in the US and Canada

(Units)

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	02.1-5	03.1-5
Class4 (U.S.) Class5 (U.S.) Class6 (U.S.) Class7 (U.S.)	199 322 483 98	260 417 584 162	270 412 684 198	375 448 879 282	309 326 669 196	319 320 830 226	152 116 302 102	143 165 348 88
Sales in U.S.	1,102	1,453	1,564	1,984	1,500	1,695	672	744
Sales in Canada	-	-	-	-	854	923	363	441

Source: Ward's Automotive Reports

■Hino aims to enter the Chinese market as well as the US market through developing exclusive heavy trucks

  It has been reported that Hino is scheduled to enter the Chinese market through developing low cost exclusive vehicles to launch production of 10t-class heavy trucks. Hino's projected sales goal of 150,000 units worldwide for 2010 includes 20,000 to 30,000 units to be sold in China. The news report in China states that the most promising joint venture partner is Chunlan Group, traditionally a home electrical appliance maker, which entered the automobile industry and now is scheduled to produce 100,000 heavy and medium trucks for the next 5 years.

  Making possible the joint production with Chunlan Group may allow a large scale production of heavy trucks even at the initial stage. Isuzu, which already established its production system for heavy, medium and light trucks and buses in China, set its production goal of heavy and medium trucks for 2004 at 20,000 units. Nissan diesel, which started heavy truck production in 1998, set its present goal at 4,000 units as well as its ultimate future goal at 10,000 units.

■Heavy truck production will be launched in China followed by full-scale bus production in 2004

■Producing engines for sale in 2004 and heavy trucks in 2005   Hino will launch production of diesel engines in 2004 and heavy trucks in 2005 in China.   Approximately 10,000 engines to be supplied to construction machinery makers will be produced annually in the first year through the joint venture with the leading electric machinery maker, Shanghai Electric Group. Diesel engines for trucks and industrial machinery are sharply growing in demand in China due to a boost in public works. A cost reduction of over 30% compared to the existing engines will be conducted to ensure cost competitiveness against local makers. The cost reduction of engines for local use will be reviewed at the design stage as there is a limit on simplifying the engine specifications.   Approximately 20,000 heavy trucks will be initially produced per year through the joint venture between a home electrical appliance maker and Chunlan Group, with its truck division. (Nihon Keizai Shinbun 03.5.1 and Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.2.12)

■Developing heavy trucks exclusive to the Chinese market with reduced price and cost by 50%   Hino, taking 10t-class heavy truck production of approximately 20,000 to 30,000 units per year in China into consideration, will develop vehicles exclusive to the Chinese market with a substantial cost reduction. Hino aims at over 50% price and cost reduction compared to its existing models by reviewing the equipment and specifications together with using parts manufactured in China. (Nikkan Jidousha Shinbun 03.2.17)

■Developing light trucks exclusive to the Chinese market with a reduced number of basic frames   Hino will reduce its existing 16 types of basic frames for light trucks to 2 types (standard and wide) in a few years according to its policy. Two basic frames will be first developed for the Chinese market, then they will be introduced in Japan and other ASEAN countries. (Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.7.9)

■Production of buses with the engines manufactured in Japan in 2003   The full-scale joint production of public buses and tour buses was projected to start in 2003 in Shenyang Shenfei Hino Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The company was established in 2000 with a 24% share held by Hino and 5% by Toyota Tsusho. However, this project has been postponed until the spring of 2004 or later.   Hino's technologies are to be introduced into models currently manufactured by Shenyang Shenfei Hino Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. for their model changeovers by procuring driving-system parts including engine parts from Japan in 2003.   The current annual production scale of 1,000 to 2,000 units is scheduled to increase to 3,500 before 2008 through an additional introducion of four Hino models including heavy and medium premium tour buses beginning in 2004. In March 2003, a new plant was completed in the Shenyang Zhangshi Economic & Technical Development Zone. This plant has a site area of 33,000㎡ and an annual capacity of 3,500 heavy and medium buses and 5,000 bus chassis.

■Overview of the China Chunlan Group discussion on cooperation in joint production of heavy trucks with foreign automakers

China Chunlan Group, which traditionally developed and produced mainly air-conditioners and refrigerators and other home electrical appliances, was established in 1985 in its facility located in Taizhou city, Jiangsu province. Chunlan Group entered the motorcycle business in 1994 when its annual production of air-conditioners reached 1.5 million units, then sold 90,000 motorcycles in 1999 and 100,000 motorcycles in 2000 through its core base, Jiangsu Chunlan Motorcycle Co., Ltd.   In November 1997, Chunlan Group also bought out Nanjing Dongfeng Motor Co., which had been suffering from a slump in business, at a price of 720 million yuan, and consolidated a specially equipped vehicle maker, Nanjing Dongfeng Special Vehicle Factory, to set up Nanjing Chunlan Automobile Mfg. Co., Ltd. The new company started mass-production in March 2001 at an annual capacity of 20,000 units. Its medium truck production volume was ranked No. 3 in October 2001, following China FAW and Dongfeng Motor Corp. The projected production will increase to 100,000 units for the next five years from the 10,000 units of 2003 with the target share of 30% in the medium and heavy truck markets. It has been revealed there is a possibility that business leaders in Chunlan Group will steer the company to enter the passenger car business.

■Looking for a partner and considering Hino to be a most promising partner in the heavy truck area   Chunlan Group is negotiating with several foreign automakers for a business alliance, mainly with Hino and Fiat. It has been reported that Chunlan Group started negotiations with Hino for cooperation in the heavy truck area in 2002. Chunlan Group has already bought 200,000㎡ of land next to Nanjing Chunlan Automobile Mfg. Co., Ltd. in order to set up a joint venture dealing with heavy trucks. The news report in China stated in May 2003 that Chunlan Group and Hino made an agreement to establish an equally shared joint venture to produce luxury heavy trucks by 50% shareholding each.

■Main targeted market of luxury-spec heavy trucks with a maximum payload of 15t   Chunlan Group targets larger medium-duty trucks and smaller heavy-duty trucks with luxury-specifications, which cover 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 20t trucks (trucks with a maximum payload of 6t to14t are medium trucks and trucks with over 14t payload are heavy trucks under the Chinese classification). In July 2002, a new 15t luxury truck, equipped with a quality interior equal to a passenger car using Nissan cab technologies, was launched at a price of 130,000 to 150,000 yuan.

■Chunlan Group's motor vehicle production and sales volumes

(Units)

			2000	2001	2002	03.1-4
Nanjing Chunlan Automobile Mfg.	Heavy truck	Production	0	0	0	2,451
		Sales	0	0	0	2,162
	medium truck	Production	270	2,861	7,700	69
		Sales	278	2,830	7,853	67
Jiangsu Chunlan Motorcycle	Motorcycle	Production	85,425	65,987	n.a.
		Sales	83,362	65,975

Source:

China Auto Parts & Components Industry Operations Data

■Hino started a complementary system as well as local procurement in the ASEAN region on a large scale while expanding its business alliance with Toyota in the light truck area

  In the ASEAN region, Hino's core overseas market, Hino reorganized the business structures in its operation bases in Thailand and Indonesia, separating each local affiliate into independent manufacturing and sales organizations. This allowed Hino to start promoting the complementary system in the ASEAN region and improving its local parts procurement ratio on a large scale. A light truck, the Dyna, is a jointly developed model between Toyota and Hino as a sister model of the Hino Dutro. The production of the Dyna, which was conventionally performed by Toyota in Thailand, was consolidated into the exclusive production of the Hino Dutro during a model changeover (shifting to the existing model in Japan).

■Upgrading the ASEAN framework: Hino restructures its manufacturing companies in Thailand and Indonesia, substantially increasing the local parts procurement ratio

■Projecting to set up a suppliers park in Thailand and Indonesia to substantially increase the local parts procurement ratio   Hino is considering the establishment of a suppliers park in Thailand and Indonesia, where Hino manufactures KD parts for medium and heavy trucks. Hino's small production scales, 4,000 units in Thailand and 3,000 units in Indonesia, prevent its affiliated Japanese medium and small truck parts makers from entering these markets. This causes Hino to procure most parts from Japan, resulting in its local content rate stagnating at 35%. Hino has secured land near its local production base to invite these Japanese medium and small truck parts makers which cannot easily enter the Thailand and Indonesian markets. This intends to improve its local content rate. It is expected that a maximum of 20 medium and small parts makers among Hino's affiliated group will participate in this project. This will allow Hino's local content rate to increase from 35% to 65-75%, enhancing its cost competitiveness. (Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.4.15)

■Sharing cab production in Thailand and Malaysia to supply to each other   Cab production requires the most complicated production processes along with the largest number of parts in the entire truck production. In order to bring cab productions for medium and small trucks under each cab-intensive production in one place, the production bases in Thailand and Malaysia must complement each other in truck cab supplies. Heavy and medium trucks are manufactured in Hino's own plant in Thailand. Also in Malaysia, heavy and medium trucks and buses are manufactured by Toyota's related company, ASSB, under a commission from Hino. Along with starting production of light trucks, the Dutro, in both production bases, cabs for medium trucks and those for light trucks will be manufactured in Thailand and Malaysia respectively to be supplied to each other. (Nikkan Jidosha Shinbun 03.2.4)

■Separating manufacturing and sales businesses in Thailand to restructure and strengthen both operations   HMT (Hino Motors (Thailand) Limited) with Hino taking a 71.69% stake and its annual production capacity of 7,560 units (1 shift) traditionally performed manufacturing and sales functions. Its manufacturing division was separated to set up a new manufacturing company, HMMT (Hino Motors Manufacturing (Thailand) Ltd. HMMT produces the Hino vehicles while reinforcing the unit business mainly for Toyota vehicles. The current HMT remains as a sales company, changing its name to HMST (Hino Motors Sales (Thailand) Ltd.).   HMMT would be set up at the end of June 2003, which was capitalized by Hino 80% and Mitsui 20%. The new company name, HMST which was capitalized by Hino 53.3%, Mitsui 42.3% and others 4.4%, would be available in July 2003. (Hino Press Release 03.4.23)

■Separating manufacturing and sales businesses in Indonesia and building a new plant   HIM (P.T. Hino Indonesia Manufacturing with Hino a 60.15% share and its annual production capacity of 3,000 units) traditionally performed manufacturing and sales functions. Its sales division was separated to set up a new sales company. This is for intended sales promotion in Indonesia.   HIM focuses on the manufacturing business with Hino Motor taking the initiative. A new plant was built in KBI (Kota Bukit Indah) to produce parts and engines through an annual production capacity of 3,000 units. This will allow Hino to upgrade its production system for the South East Asian market in order to improve productivity and quality. The total investment made by Hino for this restructuring program amounted to approximately 3 billion yen. Establishment of the new sales company was scheduled in April 2003.   The revised investment stake in the manufacturing company, HIM, is broken down into Hino 90% and IMSI (PT Indomobil Sukses International Tbk) 10%. The investment stake in the new sales company is broken down into Hino 40%, IMSI 40% and Sumitomo Corporation 20%.(Hino Press Release 03.1.22)

■Increasing the local parts procurement ratio from 20% to 50%.   Measures to reinforce the ASEAN business were included in Hino's mid-term "Plan 2002" announced in June 2002 as follows: (1) Increasing the market share through introducing new models. (2) Increasing the local parts procurement ratio from 20% in 2001 to over 50% in 2004. (3) Expanding value chains (promoting specially equipped vehicle and second-hand car businesses) (4) Promoting production business under a commission from Toyota. Carrying out these measures will increase Hino's sales from 40 billion yen in FY2001 to 45 billion yen in FY2003 and 57.3 billion yen in FY2004.

■Delegating Toyota's truck sales in Thailand to Hino around 2003   Toyota delegates its light truck sales in Thailand to Hino around 2003 as a target period. Toyota will discontinue the local sales of the light truck under its brand name, the Dyna, which was available through Toyota's sales network, taking advantage of Hino launching local production of the new model, the Dutro, in 2003. Integrating separate light truck sales under 2 brands, Toyota and Hino, into single sales through Hino allows Hino's truck business to strengthen. Hino's local content rate in its new Dutro production will increase from the current 25% to over 40% then eventually to around 65% for the next two years to enhance its cost competitiveness. (Nihon Kogyo Shinbun 02.4.17)

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