Truckies will get the first taste of factory fitted digital radios with Hino Australia becoming the first vehicle manufacturer in Australia to include DAB+ digital radio as standard equipment across its range of vehicles. All Hino light (300), medium (500), and Heavy Duty (700) Series trucks manufactured from last month will roll off the production line with a new Australian-designed, multimedia unit, which includes DAB+ as factory fitted standard equipment.

Hino Australia makes a range of trucks used across the building, landscaping and logistics industries. The company has become the first truck manufacturer in the world to include a DAB+ multimedia unit as standard equipment across its range of trucks.

The state-of-the-art multimedia unit features a large 6.1-inch high-definition touch-screen, DAB+ digital and conventional AM/FM radio receivers, CD and DVD player, USB and SD input, and is Bluetooth enabled.

Hino’s Daniel Petrovski says the new Hino multimedia unit was designed and engineered in Australia to suit the needs of local owners and operators:

“A truck’s cabin is the primary office for many of our customers, so we began looking for ways to improve the efficiency and safety of their working day. Our all-new in-dash double-din multimedia unit is designed to be user-friendly, feature the latest technology and contribute to vehicle safety with the adoption of rear-view sound-enabled infrared cameras and Bluetooth technology…  Not only is this the most advanced multimedia unit ever fitted to a truck, the new Hino unit shames those fitted to the majority of luxury cars.”

Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner has congratulated Hino on the announcement and thanked them for their support of digital radio: “Hino is leading the automotive industry by including digital radio as standard and we are very pleased Hino truck drivers, who spend a great deal of time in their vehicles will now be able to experience digital radio.”

BMW and Audi have announced also DAB+ digital radio as an option in a range of vehicles, but Hino is the first manufacturer to include it as standard.

Hino’s news has come in the same week that the community broadcasting sector formally endorsed DAB+ as the preferred transmission system for all of Australia at iots annual conference (see our other story).