Hino's best battle it out

The 2014 Hino National Skills Contest saw the brand's best service, parts and sales staff vying for top honours in Sydney recently

The 2014 Hino National Skills Contest was held at Hino Australia's head office in Taren Point, Sydney, on Thursday, October 23.

There the brand's top staff from its local service, parts and sales divisions locked horn over a series of challenges designed to determine the best in Hino's nationwide dealer network.

The event first kicked off in 2008 when it was only a service competition, but parts was added to the competition in 2012 and sales joined last year.

Hino dealer network staff competed through the year in a series of preliminary tests before the top 22 service technicians, parts interpreters and sales representatives descended on Sydney for the finals. There Hino Australia Chairman and CEO, Steve Lotter, and President and COO, Sean Takahashi, were in attendance, along with dealer principals and divisional managers.

Staff from Hino Japan and Hino's Middle East distributor in Dubai were also present, taking note of ways in which they could improve their own training programs.

Finalists were subjected to a number of exercises pertinent to their fields and competition was tight, but ultimately this year's honours went Martyn Alexander of Newcastle Hino (National Service Award), Ryan Macauley of CMI Hino Adelaide (National Parts Award) and Andrew Harris, also from CMI Hino Adelaide (National Sales Award).

According to Greg Bleasel, Hino Australia Senior Divisional Manager, Product Support, the competition embodies Hino's commitment to upholding the highest possible standards.

"Providing Total Support to our customers' businesses is our core strategy, and providing our customers with the benefit of timely and efficient service carried out by well-trained staff is the end goal of holding this annual skills contest," he said.

"We want our people to be the best of the best, and we believe providing first-rate training, assessment and development for our staff is vital to the continued success of Hino in Australia."

Very little separated the finalists and Mr Bleasel was quick to praise the competitors' finely honed skills and hard-won knowledge.

"Everyone at Hino congratulates all the participants for their efforts this year, and we look forward to seeing a few new faces along with some familiar ones at next year's finals," he said.

The winners of the 2014 Hino National Skills Contest are as follows:

Service

1st: Martyn Alexander, Newcastle Hino

2nd: Nick Lions, Jacob Hino

3rd: Darren Hillson, Prestige Hino

Parts

1st: Ryan Macauley, CMI Hino Adelaide

2nd: Tom Stewart, West Orange Motors

3rd: Luke Akehurst, Jacob Hino

Sales

1st: Andrew Harris, CMI Hino Adelaide

2nd: Jason Cugley, Prestige Hino

3rd: Ben Glasson, Adtrans Hino

Hino's best battle it out

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