THE multi-marque leasing division of Inchcape – Inchcape Fleet Solutions – has been sold to Toyota Fleet Mobility GmbH.
Toyota has paid £100m for the Inchcape Fleet Solutions business, which leases fleet vehicles and provides fleet management services to B2B customers. These include Toyota.
Inchcape said that there was little synergy between its automotive retail activity and its leasing business, saying it wanted to streamline the business.
Inchcape said that its leasing division had contributed revenue of £60m and a trading profit of £9m in the year up to December 2018. Currently the leasing company is ranked at 13 in the FN50 with a fleet of 20,415 vehicles. Toyota’s captive Financial Services firm also features in the FN50 at 21 with a fleet size of 12,379.
Toyota Fleet Mobility, which is headquarted in Cologne, Germany, said the acquisition offered them the opportunity to leverage the strength of Toyota and Lexus products, along with its retail presence, together with the experience of Inchcape Fleet Solutions with multi-channel customer base and multi-brand propositions
Tom Fux, CEO of Toyota Fleet Mobility Europe, said:
“The acquisition of Inchcape Fleet Solutions is an important milestone for Toyota Fleet Mobility in the European market. As Toyota transitions from being a car manufacturer to a mobility company, it will help us meet the increasing shift in customer preferences away from traditional vehicle ownership to new mobility opportunities.”
The deal is expected to complete in Q4 2019.
Toyota Fleet Mobility is a joint venture between Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Toyota Motor Europe. It was established in 2018 to provide full service leasing products for European customers.
Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
