The Finnish company, which is a leading manufacturer of lifts and escalators, based its decision on the low operating costs of Fiat Professional commercial vehicles as well as Fiat Group Automobiles skills in logistics and the quality and widespread coverage of the FGA service network, with more than 6,500 specialised workshops in Europe.

Ondrej Chmel, category manager at KONE Corporation, commented: ‘The solutions offered by Fiat will contribute to achieving our goal in terms of CO2 emissions and cost stabilisation.’

‘We are proud that KONE Corporation has selected us as a preferred supplier owing to our reactivity and ability to respond to their needs for logistic integration and services,’ added Christophe Bertoncini, fleet European director at Fiat Group Automobiles.

Under the agreement Fiat Professional will become KONE's preferred supplier/key supplier in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia and will supply over 700 Fiat Fiorino units in 2013.