It is reported that Japanese trucks and bus manufacturer Hino Motors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Company, will soon be setting up operations in India. As a start she will be importing some of its trucks from its plant in Thailand, and sell these in India as CBUs.

Hino Selega luxury bus

Hino Motors would be entering the Indian market via a joint-venture with the Marubeni Corporation, and the company will be named Hino Motors Sales India Pvt. Ltd., with Hino and Marubeni holding 65 percent and 35 percent respectively. The first Hino trucks to come to India would be its 500 Series, which will be available in various configurations for different off-road and on-road applications. Hino's 500 Series truck for India will be fitted with a six-cylinder engine that makes up to 250bhp, and this engine would be mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The engines would be Euro IV compliant and fuel efficiency is likely to be better than other existing trucks in India.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Hino India will aim at selling at about 2,000 trucks in its first year of operations, and the company will soon start the process of establishing dealerships throughout the country. Hino vehicles are likely to go on sale in India by June 2009, later followed by its luxury buses. The company may also set up an assembly unit in the country if demand rises.