Ernie Trautmann, who has been appointed Vice President of Hino SA.
Hino has launched a global programme to put renewed focus on customer relationship building with an initiative known as Total Support, where the focal points are sales and service marketing to customers. Hino South Africa is tackling the project with enthusiasm already, according to its new Vice President, Ernie Trautmann, addressing a media briefing at the Toyota SA head office recently.
“This is a process where all the business activities work together to foster and deepen trustworthy relationships between the Hino head offices in Japan and South Africa, its dealers and its customers,” explained Trautmann.
The newly-appointed vice president added that the move to a new truck manufacturing facility in Prospecton, near Durban, was now complete and production is running smoothly.
The relocation from a nearby site had enabled the production engineers to improve systems and install new equipment to streamline production and improve quality. The relocation cost R54-million and the official opening, which will be attended by the President of Hino Motors Limited, Japan, Masakazu Ichikawa, will take place on May 21.
Earlier Trautmann had announced that Hino had made a good start to 2014, with record sales of 425 units in March – the first time more than 400 Hino trucks had been sold in a calendar month in SA. Total Hino sales of 890 units in the first quarter of 2014 saw the brand move back into second place among truck manufacturers and distributors as well as maintaining leadership in the medium truck market and regaining top spot in the heavy truck market as well.
Concluding his address to the media Trautmann quoted the Executive President of Hino Motors, Koichi Ojima who said recently: “Since there is a limit to what can be accomplished by an individual we shall unite as one team and fully leverage our strengths to fulfil our mission which is to ‘fulfil needs in the transport of people and goods to contribute in enabling a prosperous society.’”