Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Hino Motors Ltd., celebrated the start of production of its newest North American manufacturing facility in Marion, Ark.

Located in eastern Arkansas just 10 miles west of Memphis, the facility includes a 44,000 square foot stamping plant where axle parts are produced and an adjacent 363,000 square foot plant where axles for Toyota trucks are assembled. The state-of-the-art facility represents a $235 million investment by the Japanese-owned company.

Hino Motors Ltd. is a subsidiary of Toyota and is the largest manufacturer of trucks and buses in Japan. Their U.S.A. operation includes another facility in California where Toyota components and Hino light work trucks are produced. The company has sold almost 10,000 light work trucks in the U.S. over the past 24 months and sales continue to climb.

The new Hino plant is located on a 200-acre site in the city of Marion on Hino Blvd. The facility employs 220 workers and that number will eventually reach 450 or more. When the plant reaches full production capacity, a maximum of 1,200 axles will be produced each day.

“We are pleased to locate our second production facility in Arkansas,” said Tadaaki Jagawa of Hino. “We are confident that the work force we are training will continue the tradition of excellence that has become the hallmark of Hino manufactured products.”

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