The firm, called Hyundai Contract Hire, will launch as a pilot operation from July 1 and operate through the company's dealer base.
While sales will be clinched by the dealer network, all back office management, including residual value and lease rate setting, will be handled by Lex Vehicle Leasing. Initially the pilot will be available through 14 fleet dealers for between six to eight weeks before it is made available nationwide if it proves itself.
Among the services available will be an online quotation system, although there are no plans to make this publicly available through the internet. The launch of the leasing operation is part of a major project at Hyundai to increase understanding of the brand.
Among campaign initiatives are product awareness forums with top leasing companies and in-depth talks with residual value experts about views on the marque's future performance in the used car market.
John Mahony, corporate operations manager, said there would also be investment in fleet specialist dealers as the company tried to expand business with fleets of more than 25 vehicles.
He said: 'A lot of our dealers are hungry for a contract hire package and it is a gateway to incremental business development. It is about getting our stall set out correctly. We need to offer a consistent message.
'We also need to work with our dealers so they know they can close a business deal with a 250-vehicle fleet as easily as they can with a 25-vehicle fleet.'
A key aspect of the product awareness push is explaining to the market the benefit of Hyundai's five-year transferable warranty, which means that when a vehicle is defleeted after three years, it has the added attraction of a two-year warranty.
The system, backed by the dedicated fleet dealers network, will be vital to promote the Sonata upper-medium model replacement to the fleet industry when it arrives next year.
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