A round up of this week’s fleet news including Arval’s entry into China, fleet safety, anda new sales director for Zenith and a salary sacrifice deal for Leasedrive.
Arval aims to tap China’s fleet potential
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Arval, the fleet leasing subsidiary of BNP Paribas, has opened a unit its 25th international division in China to tap into the huge market potential in the country.
Leasing accounts for less than 0.5% of the estimated 114 million vehicles on the road in China and the country of 1.3 billion inhabitants boasts the world’s second largest economy.
An Arval spokesperson said the market has enormous potential for players in the full-service leasing sector as most companies in China currently prefer to buy a vehicle rather than lease it.
The unit will be run by Mathias de Toldi, formerly general manager of Arval Morocco.
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By GlobalDataDe Toldi said the experience Arval has in bringing full-service leasing to emerging markets such as Brazil and Turkey will allow it educate the new market in fleet leasing products.
"Our arrival in the country will contribute to making the market more mature, promote a professional approach and further the concept of full-service leasing," said de Toldi.
"We shall be able to put forward our total cost of ownership approach which at present is not taken into account when a local company chooses a vehicle."
Arval China will be headquartered in the capital Beijing although parent bank BNP Paribas also has offices in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. Arval also intends to expand to the cities of Tianjin and Nanjing where BNP Paribas has a partnership with Bank of Nanjing.
Overseeing the firm’s development in China will be Tero Tapala, recently appointed as Arval’s regional director for Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey (BRICT).
Tapala, who has held managerial roles across Arval’s global divisions and was previously sales director, said: "China is one of the markets of the future, and some of our large customers are already in business there."
François Piot, Arval’s former chief operating officer, has taken Tapala’s place as sales director.
BVRLA endorses police fleet initiative
The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has given its backing to a report calling for national standardisation of the management of work-related risks on the road.
The report – A gap analysis of work-related road safety in the UK: Working towards a national standard -is available from the website of transport research body TRL.
The report, funded by the Metropolitan Police Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers, also calls for greater police involvement by making safety information more widely available.
John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA, said: "We were delighted to be able to contribute to this report and wholeheartedly endorse its recommendation for a national standard for the management of work-related road safety.
"Asking the Police to keep businesses informed about employees’ committing road traffic offences while driving at work makes perfect sense, but we would go further," continued Lewis.
"The BVRLA believes that the Police should be given the extra resources to be able to categorise all work-related road accidents and report them to businesses."
Zenith signs Rose from Lex
Fleet lessor Zenith has appointed Claudia Rose as sales director.
Prior to joining Zenith, Rose was corporate sales director at Lex Autolease. She joined Lex in 1989 at the start of her career, and was corporate sales director of Lloyds TSB Autolease before its merger with Lex in 2009.
Rose said of Zenith: "The company has a high quality customer base of mid to large corporates from a variety of sectors and a well established presence in the industry. There are huge opportunities here for business growth and development and I am looking forward being instrumental in the next phase of Zenith’s journey."
Leasedrive signs 4 year salary sacrifice deal
Independent UK fleet lessors Leasedrive has signed a four year deal to supply cars to employees of accountancy firm RSM Tenon through its mycar salary sacrifice scheme.
The initiative will see RSM Tenon’s 2,700 employees offered a new vehicle, fully serviced and maintained, in exchange for forfeiting some of their salary, thereby saving tax and national insurance on the money sacrificed.
Paul Fleming, Leasedrive’s sales and marketing director, said that the scheme provided a tax efficient employee benefit at "little or no cost" to the employer. He also said that it "eliminates the ‘grey fleet’ risk"; the issue of employees being paid expenses to use their own vehicles.
He added: "Through the mycar solution, RSM Tenon employees can now enjoy the use of a more fuel efficient, fully serviced and maintained new car backed by comprehensive business insurance, all at a fixed budgeted monthly cost."
Everything you always wanted to know about fleet safety but were afraid to ask
Road safety charity Brake is offering fleet managers the opportunity to ‘Ask Brake’ for hints, tips, research findings and other initiatives relating to fleet safety, drawing on its work with over 1,500 fleet professionals worldwide.
The advice service is offered free to fleet managers and answers will be published anonymously on the Brake website.
Questions can be sent to forum@brake.org, using the subject line ‘Ask Brake’, with further information available at http://www.brake.org.uk/organisations/ask-brake.htm
