Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. (HMM) is expanding its West Virginia truck manufacturing and assembly operations. The company will relocate its operations from its current site in Williamstown to the former Coldwater Creek facility in Mineral Wells. The new plant, planned to be operational in early 2019, will also house cab assembly, an operation currently conducted in Japan.
“The new plant, which is four times the size of our current plant, will allow us to combine several assembly operations under one roof which will provide significant efficiency gains,” said Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. President Takashi Ono.
The Williamstown facility was the first transportation equipment assembly plant for Hino in the United States. Hino began rolling out its first trucks in November 2007. The total investment to the new plant in Mineral Wells will be approximately $100 million, creating about 250 new jobs in early 2020 over a two-shift operation.
“West Virginia has enjoyed a very good relationship with Hino,” said Governor Jim Justice. “This new plant demonstrates that Hino has confidence in our state, and West Virginia is a great place to do business. On behalf of everyone in the Mountain State, I thank Hino for their continued investment and the creation of new jobs.”
“Hino has been a valued member of our business community since 2007,” said Secretary of Commerce Woody Thrasher. “When the company was ready to consolidate operations in an expanded facility, West Virginia was ready to help find and secure the right site. Hino’s expansion will return an existing structure to active production and create more good manufacturing jobs right here in West Virginia.”
In addition to producing Hino’s current award-winning line up of conventional trucks, the new truck assembly plant in West Virginia will produce a new line of Class 7 and 8 trucks which Hino plans to introduce in 2019. The truck will be powered by Hino’s proven A09, 9-liter engine. Already sold in many other markets around the world, the Hino A09 engine will have a horsepower range from 300-360 HP.
“These are truly exciting times for Hino in the U.S. Our growth and customer acceptance in the Class 4-7 market are enabling us to introduce wider variety of products,” said Yoshinori Noguchi, CEO of Hino North America.
As part of Hino’s growth plan, Hino broke ground last month on a new state-of-the-art corporate office in Novi, MI. Hino is consolidating all operations in its new corporate headquarters, including sales, marketing, service, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing. Hino’s Insight Diagnostic Center, which monitors vehicle performance and uptime for all Hino trucks equipped with Insight, will also operate out of the Novi headquarters. Investment in the new corporate office totals $20 million.
Together, HMM and Hino Trucks have a combined 10 facilities spanning five states supporting manufacturing, R&D, Sales and Parts Distribution, and employ over 1,000 people. HMM assembles medium duty trucks in Williamstown, WV; manufactures automotive parts in Marion, AR; and operates parts centers in Mira Loma, CA and Gahanna, OH. HMM is also a Tier-1 supplier of high quality automotive parts throughout North America.
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