Fleet Logistics has grown its European managed fleet by a further 10,000 cars in the first half of 2012 as international companies continue to focus on cost cutting and liquidity issues caused by the financial crisis in the Eurozone.

Fleet Logistics ceo Peter Soliman (pictured) said; “We are not seeing so much of a bang, more of a whimper, but the economic conditions are pretty similar – and it is undoubtedly affecting the way companies do business.”

One significant consequence of the downturn is that leasing companies, especially those that are bank-owned, are struggling with liquidity problems of their own and increasing interest rates they charge their customers.

“The cost of leasing is undoubtedly increasing and we are also seeing large spreads on monthly rentals between different leasing companies, sometimes by as much as €100 on some popular fleet models,” said Soliman.

“Some of the larger international corporations have access to cheaper capital than some of the leasing companies and in certain instances that is prompting them to consider moving away from leasing in favour of outright purchase,” he added.

One area where Fleet Logistics has seen exceptional growth is in the Nordics regions – Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark – where its managed fleet size has tripled in the last year.

“Our commercial director Stuart Donnelly and his team have done an excellent job in increasing our awareness and driving sales, especially with larger international corporations in the region,” said Soliman.

Fleet Logistics developed its global reporting solution, Fleet. Global, specifically to provide global teams with the means to manage their fleets more effectively, with greater transparency in global fleet operations and improved standardization of data and cost information.

Peter Soliman added: “Fleet.Global provides the ammunition for international fleet managers to maximise their buying power and increase their control over fleets managed by local entities across the globe.

“This approach also applies to other fleet commodities such as insurance, tires or any other aspect of fleet operations the organisation is responsible for buying itself. Without the right consolidated data, the organisation will never be able to maximise its buying power or adequately control fleet spend,” he added.