Hino, Allison forge long-term deal

Class 4-7 truck maker Hino Trucks and Allison Transmission recently hammered out a multi-year, long-term agreement that makes Allison transmissions the preferred and exclusive unit for all current and future Hino conventional trucks sold in the U.S.

Through the new agreement, Hino – a division of Japan’s Toyota Group – said its conventional models equipped with Allison’s 2000 Highway Series (HS) transmissions will now carry a 4-year warranty, while trucks spec’d with the 2000 and 3000 Rugged Duty Series (RDS) transmissions will carry a 3-year warranty, all starting with the 2012 model year.

The deal also affords Hino and Allison the opportunity to work closer together on research and development efforts to help “bring new technologies to the medium-duty market,” noted Glenn Ellis, Hino’s vp-marketing.