Leading insurer Aon has launched a double attack on the company car market - with the creation of a new fleet management operation in France, and a new pan-European accident management service.

And the company aims to establish a full pan-European fleet management presence in the future.

Called Aon Auto, the French fleet management arm has been designed to 'meet the demands of customers looking for a single point of contact for all their fleet needs,' said a spokesman for Aon. 'We wanted to rationalise our automotive businesses to offer the most complete and independent range of services in the French fleet market.'

Aon Auto incorporates Aon's previous fleet management subsidiary, Pyxys, and several other insurance brokers like SGCS and Le Blanc de Nicolay. The French operation will employ 130 people, and will promote itself as an 'integrator of services'.

It is structured into four separate divisions: fleet management (vehicle acquisition, maintenance, fuel, finance, tyres and disposals); incident management (breakdowns and accidents); insurance management; and audit and advice.

In January, the four divisions will move a new development in Marseilles. Aon Auto in France already has 200,000 vehicles on its fleet - mainly as a result of its insurance business.

Now Aon wants to increase the revenue from each of the vehicles on the fleet by 30% by offering fleet management and accident management services.

The establishment of the French fleet arm coincides with the creation of a pan-European accident management operation by Aon. The service started in seven countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and the UK) in August.

The spokesman said Aon planned to extend this pan-European accident operation to incorporate fleet management in the future. (September 2001)