Hino Motors enters Kenyan market with Toyota Tsusho

Hino Motors said Tuesday that it will begin marketing trucks in Kenya this month in partnership with Toyota Tsusho through the sales channels of Toyota Tsusho's wholly owned vehicle distributor Toyota Kenya Limited.

Kenya is a core member of the five-nation East African Community, and its market for commercial vehicles is poised for growth as the community continues to post robust economic expansion.

Hino's initial offering to serve that growth potential is the HINO 500 Series, the truck maker's best-selling model line outside Japan. Its sales target for the first year of marketing in Kenya is 300 vehicles. A Kenyan company has contracted with Hino to assemble the trucks from sets of parts imported from Japan.

Hino has built strong market positions in Asia and Oceania and in Latin America, and the truck maker is moving to position Africa as its next principal overseas market. The commitment to Kenya is Hino's initial move in implementing that strategy.

Toyota Tsusho has been distributing vehicles in Africa since 1964. The company is moving to position Africa as its principal operational region outside Japan, along with Asia and Oceania, China, North America, and Europe. It has built an extensive distribution network for vehicles in Africa, centered on eight wholly or majority-owned national distributors.

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