Hino Plans Truck Factory in Mexico

Japan’s Hino Motors Ltd. will build a truck plant in Mexico to boost international sales as domestic demand wanes, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The factory to be located in Guanajuato, Mexico, will have annual capacity of 1,200 vehicles and will start operations in July 2009, Bloomberg said, though it did not report what size the trucks would be.

Tokyo-based Hino, which makes heavy and medium-duty trucks, is 50% owned by Toyota Motor Corp. and the company trying to expand outside the country as domestic demand from bus and transport companies falls, Bloomberg reported.

Hino sold 272 trucks in Mexico in the last fiscal year and is targeting sales of 1,000 there this fiscal year, Bloomberg reported.

Sales of the company’s Dutro truck and other models fell 5.6% in Japan in the last quarter, while it boosted sales by more than 40% in Asia, the Middle East and in Central and South America, Bloomberg said.