A GIANT fleet supply deal worth nearly £1 billion at showroom prices has been signed by ANC Rental Corporation and Vauxhall.

The three-year deal will see Vauxhall provide National Car Rental and Alamo with 22,000 vehicles a year from the manufacturer's passenger car range. The vehicles, which will be changed twice a year, represent 40% of ANC's fleet, which runs more than 30,000 vehicles in the UK. The contract, totalling 66,000 passenger cars over the next three years, also allows for the provision of up to a further 9,000 vehicles during that time.

Additional volumes of Vauxhall commercial vehicles will be taken from the Combo and Vivaro ranges.

The huge contract continues a business relationship between the two companies which stretches back to the mid-1970s, and replaces an existing rolling one-year contract that has run for the past three years.

Vauxhall will supply about 5,500 Vectras, 2,200 Zafiras, 9,500 Astras, 3,000 Corsas, 500 Agilas and 1,300 Omegas a year. Some 20% of the product mix will be diesel, while ANC will also be trialling a number of Vauxhall Dualfuel LPG vehicles.

Stephen Deakin, fleet director of ANC Rental Corporation, which also owns prestige rental firm Guy Salmon, said: 'Vauxhall vehicles suit the nature of our business very well. We are very comfortable with this new deal which is flexible.

'Vauxhall has been a very helpful and co-operative business partner over the years.' Maurice Howkins, Vauxhall fleet sales director, said: 'The new contract reaffirms the product reliability and customer acceptance of the Vauxhall model range.'

National Car Rental trades in about 70 countries, with nearly 3,000 locations and has a fleet of more than 250,000 vehicles worldwide. In the UK, it has more than 125 locations and is a winner of nine successive Fleet News Awards for being the best daily rental company.