Hino Australia remains confident despite a challenging 2026 truck market, supported by its updated light-duty 300 Series and medium-duty 500 Series, alongside growing momentum in its heavy-duty 700 Series.

Speaking at a recent Hino Australia business briefing, Hino President and CEO Richard Emery said the Australian truck market remained under pressure, but the industry's underlying fundamentals continued to provide a solid basis for future growth.

“It would be fair to say that 2026 has not gone to plan, with a combination of global events, higher fuel prices, consumer confidence and interest rates creating a more challenging environment than we anticipated at the beginning of the year,” said Mr Emery.

“The market has contracted significantly over the past two years, and while we expect conditions to remain challenging in the short term, we continue to believe there is strong underlying demand for trucks in Australia and that the market will return to an upward trend.

“Whether that occurs in 2027 or 2028 is difficult to predict, but the fundamentals remain positive,” he said.

In the medium term, Mr Emery believes Australia's freight task will continue to grow, creating a need for operators to replace and expand their truck fleets.

He said the age of Australia's truck fleet did not decrease significantly during the COVID period and subsequent market surge, as operators prioritised adding trucks to meet increased freight demand rather than refreshing existing vehicles.

“The freight task continues to increase, so we will need more trucks,” said Mr Emery.

Hino 700 Series Builds Momentum

Against this market backdrop, Hino's 700 Series heavy-duty truck range is performing strongly.

“The 700 Series is in a purple patch at the moment – since June, we have averaged around 100 retail sales per month, which is a record,” said Mr Emery.

“It has been something of a sleeping giant since its launch, but with the additional models now available, it is going from strength to strength.”

While the overall heavy-duty market remains mixed, the heavy rigid segment has continued to demonstrate resilience, with Hino seeing strong potential for its expanded 700 Series offering.

“We believe we have the strongest offering in the heavy rigid segment in terms of specification, model line-up and value,” said Mr Emery.

Hino expects the 700 Series to make a significant contribution to its 2026 result, with the company on track to record its strongest-ever annual volume for the model range.

Hino 300 Series Supply Strengthens

The light-duty truck market has also come under pressure, with Hino Australia's 300 Series volumes affected by softer demand and a supply gap during the transition to Euro 6-compliant vehicles.

With Euro 6 300 Series supply now returning, stock is reaching dealerships, strengthening availability across the model range.

Hino expects availability to improve further as the full line-up becomes available in 2027, including the new High Horsepower and Crew Cab models.

“We expect to be back in full swing with the 300 Series when the full line-up becomes available next year, including the new High Horsepower and Crew Cab models.”

Hino 500 Series Returns to the Market in 2027

The arrival of the Euro 6-compliant 500 Series medium-duty truck in 2027 has been welcomed by Hino Australia and its dealers.

“The 500 Series is our heartland, and we have been a major player in this segment for many years,” said Mr Emery.

“We know there is strong customer demand for the product, and we believe the 500 Series line-up will give us the opportunity to return to the market strongly in 2027.”

Balanced Truck Portfolio Strengthens Hino Australia

Mr Emery said the changing contribution of the 300, 500 and 700 Series ranges was creating a more balanced and resilient Hino business.

Historically, the 300 Series has accounted for more than half of Hino Australia's business. However, the growing importance of the 500 and 700 Series is expected to reduce the company's reliance on any single model range.

“Our model mix between 300, 500 and 700 Series is now more balanced than ever,” said Mr Emery.

“We are already seeing customers increasingly view Hino as a preferred partner across multiple segments rather than for a single application or model,” he said.

Building Whole-of-Fleet Partnerships

The shift towards a broader product portfolio forms part of Hino Australia's ongoing strategy to develop whole-of-fleet partnerships with customers.

“Over recent years, we have continued to invest and innovate in the support we provide to customers including our Parts Distribution Centre, Capped Price Service program and expanded warranty offering,” said Mr Emery.

“We are building a compelling business partnership proposition around a broad product offering, proven quality and reliability, investment in support infrastructure and a genuine desire for partnership ahead of volume.

“Our dealer network is also a critical part of that proposition, and we have a strong working relationship with our dealers.

“This relationship, combined with our product and aftersales offering has meant we have been able to maintain our position as Australia's number two truck brand despite a challenging year.

“We have a strong foundation to build on as our product availability improves and the market recovers,” he concluded.

 


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