Press release Fleet Logistics and TÜV SÜD in strategic partnership to create major international fleet business Leading pan European fleet management specialist, Fleet Logistics, has announced a strategic partnership with international technical services corporation, TÜV SÜD, and its German fleet management subsidiary, FleetCompany, with the aim of creating a combined international fleet management business of over 200,000 fleet vehicles. The new partnership immediately creates the biggest independent fleet management group in Europe with over 100,000 vehicles under management. Fleet Logistics currently manages over 75,000 vehicles on behalf of large national and international fleet customers, while FleetCompany has in excess of 25,000 vehicles under management in Germany. The strategic partnership is based on depth of expertise, global infrastructure and financial strength. This allows it to turbo-charge its fleet business to take it to the next level, said Fleet Logistics Chief Executive Officer, Peter Soliman, who will manage the business. We are very excited by the possibilities that this new venture opens up on an international fleet level, with potential new markets in Asia and Australia, as well as reinforcing our fleet management offering in our established markets in Western and Central Europe, he said.
TÜV SÜD, which is head-quartered in Munich, employs around 16,000 people worldwide in around 600 locations and in 2010 had a turnover of 1.5 billion. It specializes in three key business segments - industry, mobility and certification. Through its TÜV SÜD Auto Service subsidiary, it offers services from roadworthiness and exhaust emission testing to driving licence tests, and has around 300 service centres throughout Germany. TÜV SÜD Auto Service also owns German fleet management subsidiary, FleetCompany, which manages around 25,000 vehicles on behalf of medium and large sized fleet customers who outright purchase or self-finance their vehicles, providing a range of fleet management and consultancy services intended to reduce fleet costs and streamline processes. The new strategic partnership brings a number of benefits for fleet customers including greater stability through increased scale, an extended service portfolio, a global infrastructure to support global reporting, and an improvement in operational quality through a deep process focus, as well as an insight into other parts of the automotive value chain. This new venture is very much about going for growth and the long term. It is definitely not about taking costs out the business, explained Peter Soliman. Why have we chosen to partner with TÜV SÜD in this way? Because they are deeply involved in the automotive sector and work closely with most of the major motor manufacturers, yet, like us, they are completely independent and can act in the best interests of the customer. TÜV SÜD global infrastructure combined with the partnership`s technological capabilities allows us to provide global transparency and fleet services to our clients. The fit is perfect.
The partnership with FleetCompany will allow us to offer a pure fleet management solution to companies which prefer to self-finance or outright purchase, rather than lease, their vehicles. We see this very much as complimentary to the traditional Fleet Logistics solution which typically focuses on companies who prefer to lease their vehicles. We would like to underline that we are not changing our business model or focus and will continue to respect our current deep relationships with leasing companies. However, through FleetCompany, we are now able to offer an alternative fleet management solution for outright purchase and self-financing fleets, and we will do this in all the major European countries initially, including the UK, France, Netherlands and the Benelux, he said. Fleet Logistics will continue to focus on managing full service lease contracts for large international clients while FleetCompany will focus on outright purchase fleets. Both brands stand for quality leadership, geographical coverage, value added services and act as the clients advocate across the value chain. The strategic partnership s mission is to help fleet operators reduce and control their total cost of ownership and ensure the best practice driver experience, by combining expertise, infrastructure and scale internationally. Peter Soliman continued: We believe we will be able to capitalize on TÜV SÜD s global infrastructure to develop and enhance our global reporting solution and offer our clients transparent and efficient reporting across all countries. We also believe we will be able to offer existing FleetCompany clients the ability to have international fleet management for any or all their operating countries should they so choose, an option that had not been available to them hitherto.
We envisage some efficiencies from this co-operation, and although we will keep our sales and account management functions completely separate, we will combine operations and back office functions to achieve benefits of scale, he added. Roland Vogt, Managing Director of FleetCompany, said: We are delighted to be entering this strategic partnership arrangement with Fleet Logistics who we see as being at the forefront of pan European fleet management. The new venture allows us to offer a larger, international dimension to our national customer base, which will accelerate our global growth even more. It allows us, through Fleet Logistics infrastructure, to offer a fleet management solution to potential customers outside Germany who outright purchase or self-finance their vehicle fleets. This is a new and exciting development for us and gives us access to international markets that on our own would have been too time consuming to build unaided. It is the perfect complement to our existing business, he said. There were thumbs up for the new partnership from (left to right): Roland Vogt (Managing Director FleetCompany); Peter Soliman (CEO Fleet Logistics); Viktor F.Metz
(CFO TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH); and Bernhard Kerscher (CEO TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH). Ends Notes to Editors Fleet Logistics currently manages a vehicle fleet of over 75,000 vehicles with a related cost base of over 800 million on behalf of leading corporations. The group has operations in: Austria, Vienna Belgium, Vilvoorde Czech Republic, Prague France, Paris Finland, Helsinki Germany, Mainz, Dusseldorf Greece, Athens Hungary, Budapest Eire, Dublin Italy, Milan Netherlands, Oosterhout Poland, Warsaw Portugal, Lisbon Russia, Moscow Spain, Madrid Sweden, Malmö Switzerland, Baden United Kingdom, Birmingham Fleet Logistics has emerged in Europe as a unique, knowledge-based fleet organisation, offering expert and impartial advising and management services, ranging from fleet solutions (fleet cost, policy and practices benchmarking) to strategic procurement (supplier tendering, negotiation and selection) and ongoing supplier monitoring (continuing control on overall costs, suppliers' pricing, and service quality). Fleet Logistics support services enable clients to reduce costs, simplify administration, and achieve maximum effectiveness for their policies and operations. About TÜV SÜD
TÜV SÜD is a leading international service organization catering to the strategic business segments, Industry, Mobility and Certification. Over 16,000 employees are represented at more than 600 locations throughout the world. Optimizing technology, systems and know-how, the interdisciplinary specialist teams act as process partners to strengthen their customers competitiveness. TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH offers services from roadworthiness and exhaust emission testing to driving licence tests. Services also include expert damage and value assessment as well as used car certificates and vehicle management. With approx. 300 service centres throughout southern Germany, TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH supports about 10,000 private and business customers every day. FleetCompany GmbH, which is 100% owned by TÜV SÜD Auto Services, provides vehicle management services to medium and large-size vehicle fleets and also offers consulting and reporting services geared to cut fleet costs and streamline fleet processes. The service company currently manages approximately 25,000 vehicles. Media Relations Mike Gunnell Fleet Logistics MGMedia Services Frank Volk TÜV SÜD AG Corporate Communications MOBILITY Westendstraße 199 80686 Munich Tel. +44 (0) 1832/275060 E-Mail mike@mgmediaservices.com Internet www.fleetlogistics.com Tel. +49 (0) 89 / 57 91 16 67 Fax +49 (0) 89 / 57 91 22 69 E-Mail frank.volk@tuev-sued.de Internet www.tuev-sued.de Ends