WOODSTOCK, Ont. — In a delightful bit of irony, Woodstock, Ont. served as the host location for a very Woodstock-like event last week, as the president of Hino Motors Canada, Hiro Omori, showed off his prodigious guitar-playing skills during a presentation at the aptly titled Hino Rocks dealer meeting. The presentation was part of a two-day meeting and new product release put on by the Japanese truck maker, a subsidiary of the Toyota Group.

Omori appeared on stage at a downtown Woodstock theatre where a four-piece band had previously peppered a number of announcements by Hinos staff with such hard rock mainstays as Thunderstruck and Highway to Hell by metal band AC/DC as well as Queens crowd-pleasing classic, We Will Rock You. When the curtain was raised for one final performance, a sunglasses-wearing Omori launched into a rocking guitar solo, during which the diminutive CEO wowed the crowd by playing several bars with the guitar behind his head.

The clever presentation helped to introduce a number of Hinos new 2008 products, which includes manufacturers return to the cab-over-engine market with a new class 4 truck: the Hino Model 155. The new model will be manufactured at the Hino’s Woodstock plant using Japanese components.

“This important expansion of Hino’s product line answers a strong demand from Hino customers, especially in large metro areas, Omori later said in a release. The superior manoeuvrability and short overall length of the cab-over design makes it particularly well-suited for pick-up and delivery operations in large cities. Hino trucks are famous in Canada for their rugged reliability, superb visibility, driver comfort, fuel economy and Japanese quality.

For a complete list of new products and other announcements from the rockin event, check out the November issue of Truck News.