Early concept of Hino Poncho EV
Toyota’s commercial vehicles subsidiary Hino announced today that it will be teaming up with its fierce rival to build flat-floor, battery electric (BEV) route buses.
In the commercial trucks and buses world, Hino and Isuzu are equivalents to Toyota and . Their dealers fight rough and hard with each other. On smaller commercial vehicles, the is in an intense battle for supremacy with the .
25 years ago, anyone who dare suggest a cooperation between Isuzu and Toyota will be given a knife to seppuku himself. Yes, Hino and Isuzu have had on-off collaborations since the 2000s, but these are very superficial collaboration to improve bus and trucks services, focusing only on Japan.
This time however, the two rivals will be collaborating on product development and manufacturing.
Both Isuzu and Hino are also facing a once-in-a-100 years type of challenge. The transition to fully electric drive will eventually reach the commercial vehicles sector and the only way to survive is to put aside their differences to form one Team Japan, so they can pull their resources together.
To that aim, both companies have created a joint venture company called J-Bus Ltd. J for Japan.
Isuzu, being the stronger player in buses, will lead the development of the electric bus. Production will start in financial year 2024.
In addition to that, the two companies will also collaborate on developing flat floor, hydrogen-fueled fuel cell electric (FCEV) route buses.
The next-generation FCEV route bus will combine the platform of the BEV flat-floor route bus scheduled for launch in financial year 2024, with Toyota's fully developed fuel cell system found in the Toyota Mirai and the SORA fuel cell bus.
Keyword: Relationship status: It’s complicated – Rivals Isuzu and Toyota team up for EV buses