INCHCAPE Vehicle Contracts has launched a battle for pan-European fleet contracts by joining a new venture offering cross-border leasing services. A new partnership of leasing companies, called Unico Car Lease, aims to simplify the sourcing and funding arrangements for organisations operating a pan-European fleet.

Unico Car Lease, part of the Amsterdam-based Unico Banking Group, covers nine European countries, including the UK, through its partnerships. It will provide organisations that operate throughout Europe with a network for financing and sourcing vehicles in each country. Members of the group will act as the main point of contact in each country and use other leasing partners for local expertise and contacts in the client's relevant operating countries.

John Cassie, director of Inchcape Vehicle Contracts, said: 'Unico Car Lease offers the economies of scale that corporately-owned, multi-national financial institutions provide, together with the individual approach to meeting operational requirements that local financing organisations can give. This, together with the reassurance of a consistent level of service standards in all countries, means cost efficiency and ease of management for the pan-European fleet user.'

Inchcape Vehicle Contracts was created as the new name for Mann Egerton Vehicle Contracts following a major shake-up of its business by parent company Inchcape. A spokesman for Unico said: 'The desire to profit from the larger European market, not only by multi-national conglomerates but also increasingly among the smaller and medium-sized enterprises, means more and more businesses are seeking customers in foreign countries.' Unico Car Lease has partnerships in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK.