Fleet Logistics chief executive officer, Peter Soliman likens the current economic conditions to the days immediately following the Lehman Brothers crash in 2008 – but without the same lurid headlines.

‘We are not seeing so much of a bang, more of a whimper, but the economic conditions are pretty similar – and it is undoubtedly affecting the way companies do business,’ he said.

One significant consequence of the downturn is that leasing companies, especially those that are bank-owned, are struggling with liquidity problems of their own and increasing interest rates they charge their customers.

‘The cost of leasing is undoubtedly increasing and we are also seeing large spreads on monthly rentals between different leasing companies, sometimes by as much as €100 on some popular fleet models,’ said Soliman.

‘Some of the larger international corporations have access to cheaper capital than some of the leasing companies and in certain instances that is prompting them to consider moving away from leasing in favour of outright purchase,’ he added.

As a result, cost cutting remains firmly at the top of corporate agendas and this is driving renewed interest in outsourcing and in services like Fleet Logistics’ multi-bidding offering, which selects the most preferential leasing rentals from a panel of preferred suppliers.

One major advantage of multi-bidding is that it helps smooth out the impact of the more severe leasing spreads by selecting only the most preferential rates from a panel of lenders, thus helping drive down acquisition costs, typically by as much as 8-10%.

‘These factors have all combined to make our offering to fleet customers very attractive, and in the first six months of the year we have added an additional 10,000 new cars to our managed fleet, which has now reached 110,000 vehicles across Europe,’ said Soliman.

One area where Fleet Logistics has seen exceptional growth is in the Nordics regions – Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark – where its managed fleet size has tripled in the last year.

‘Our commercial director, Stuart Donnelly and his team have done an excellent job in increasing our awareness and driving sales, especially with larger international corporations in the region,’ said Soliman.

One consequence of the economic downturn that has become more noticeable recently, especially amongst some of the very largest corporations, is a move towards increased globalisation and a growth in centralisation.

‘It is becoming increasingly common amongst big corporations to have a small centralised team responsible for managing the fleet on a global basis with global reporting, but with more outsourcing of the day-to-day fleet activities. This is an area of strength for us and we are undoubtedly reaping the benefits of this trend,’ added Soliman.

Fleet Logistics developed its global reporting solution, Fleet. Global, specifically to provide global teams with the means to manage their fleets more effectively, with greater transparency in global fleet operations and improved standardization of data and cost information. 

Peter Soliman continued: ‘Fleet. Global provides the ammunition for international fleet managers to maximise their buying power and increase their control over fleets managed by local entities across the globe.

‘This approach also applies to other fleet commodities such as insurance, tires or any other aspect of fleet operations the organisation is responsible for buying itself. Without the right consolidated data, the organisation will never be able to maximise its buying power or adequately control fleet spend,’ he added.