Earlier this year we covered new tools from Hitachi and included a mention that the Hitachi Power Tools name would be changing. Well now it’s official. There will be no more Hitachi branded power tools, nailers, or fasteners made. Instead, the products henceforth will be branded Metabo HPT in the USA and Canada. In Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the rest of the world, Hitachi switched the name to Hikoki Despite being a logical portmanteau of Hitachi Koki, the second half of the Hitachi name was not well known in our market and the name didn’t test well here. Thus the adoption of the Metabo name with the acronym HPT attached. Read More
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Green with Envy – New Hitachi MultiVolt 36/18 Volt Tools
Lots of changes are happening with the new, improved Hitachi Power Tools. Since being sold by the giant Hitachi parent company to the investment firm KKR & Co. L.P. last year, the brand is being reinvented under their new ownership. Having previously been a tiny business unit representing less than 2% of a giant corporation (including the assets of sister brand Metabo which Hitachi bought a year earlier), their newfound market agility has freed them up to spend more money for developing and promoting new products like Hitachi MultiVolt (more on that shortly). And, holding their first-ever media event, which I am reporting from, held at the spacious Hitachi North American office, distribution center, and service/repair center just outside Atlanta. Read More
