The group's Belgium-based strategic cost director, Peter O'Brien, hinted that DHL was likely to choose a manufacturer that owns other marques and can offer a variety of different vehicles.
'Company cars can naturally be an emotional issue, where in some countries it is a status symbol for employees, so we do need to be sensitive to this when choosing suppliers. However, at the end of the day a practical and pragmatic solution must be put in place that best serves the company as whole, and this is what we intend to do.'
DHL has already signed a fleet contract for its commercial vehicles in 13 European countries, and is now planning to move forward globally.
Its new fleet arrangements re-appoint LeasePlan as its international leasing supplier, and restrict vehicle acquisitions to a single manufacturer for each category of vehicle.
Renault has won the contract to supply small commercial vehicles, Ford will supply medium commercial vehicles, and DaimlerChrysler will supply large commercial vehicles.
Peter O'Brien led the procurement project from DHL's headquarters in Brussels, and said the manufacturers had been selected on the basis of total cost of ownership, including acquisition cost, residual values and maintenance figures.
He added that brand acceptance and ease of implementation also played a key part in choosing the three manufacturers.
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