Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corporate spin-off from previous manufacturers. Hino Motors is a large constituent of the Nikkei 225 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation and one of 16 major companies of the Toyota Group. History The company traces its roots back to the founding of Tokyo Gas Industry Company in 1910. In 1910, Chiyoda Gas Company was established and competed fiercely against incumbent Tokyo Gas Company for gas lighting users. Tokyo Gas Industry was a parts supplier for Chiyoda Gas but it was defeated and merged into Tokyo Gas in 1912. Having lost its largest client, Tokyo Gas Industry Co. broadened its product line including electronic parts, and renamed itself as Tokyo Gas and Electric Industry (東京瓦斯電気工業), TG&E, and was often abbreviated as Gasuden. It produced its first motor vehicle in 1917, the Model TGE "A-Type" truck. In 1937, TG&E merged its automobile division with that of Automobile Industry Co., Ltd. and Kyodo Kokusan K.K., to form Tokyo Automobile Industry Co., Ltd., with TG&E as a shareholder. Four years later, the company changed its name to Diesel Motor Industry Co., Ltd., which would eventually become Isuzu. The following year (1942), the new entity of Hino Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. spun itself out from Diesel Motor Industry Co., Ltd., and the Hino name was born. During World War II, Hino manufactured Type 1 Ho-Ha half-track and Type 1 Ho-Ki armored personnel carrier for the Imperial Japanese Army. Following treaties signed at the end of World War II, the company had to stop producing large diesel engines for marine applications, so the company dropped the "Heavy" from its name and formally concentrated on the heavy-duty trailer-truck, buses and diesel engines markets, as Hino Industry Co., Ltd. The company took its name from the location of its headquarters in within Tokyo prefecture. To sharpen its marketing focus to customers, in 1948, the company added the name "Diesel" to become Hino Diesel Industry Co., Ltd. In 1950 the heavy-duty TH10 was introduced, equipped with the all-new 7-liter DS10 diesel engine. An eight-tonner, this was considerably larger than existing Japanese trucks which had rarely been built for more than payload. In 1953, Hino entered