Element to Acquire GE Capital Fleet in US & Mexico, Arval in Europe
Element Financial Corporation announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with GE to acquire GE Capital’s remaining North American fleet management operations in the US and Mexico, as well as GE Capital’s fleet management operations in Australia and New Zealand for an all-cash purchase price of C$8.6 billion.
Element had previously acquired the Canadian operations of GE Capital’s North American fleet management business in June of 2013.
In a related transaction, Element confirmed today that Paris-based Arval, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas and Element’s founding partner in the Element-Arval Global Alliance, has entered into a memorandum of understanding to acquire GE Capital’s European fleet operations.
On closing of the two transactions, the Element-Arval Global Alliance will be capable of managing customer fleets in more than 40 countries.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the US and Mexico transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015, and the Australia and New Zealand transaction in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Managing the Complexities of the Global Fleet
Global consolidation is a reality that many companies frequently face in today’s internationally focused society. But what does this mean for fleet managers? For many, it means a rapidly expanded fleet that is much more complex and time-consuming to manage than a local fleet.
In part one of this Q&A series, Esther Calvo Bolaño, vice president international sales for LeasePlan International, explains why it’s important to understand global fleets and how to manage one.
Ford, Hewlett-Packard Using Coffee Stops, Big Data to Better Manage Fleets and Personalize Employee Drives
Using HP's Big Data Discovery Experience Services and the HP Haven big data platform, the engineering team gathered data and analyzed it to determine possibilities for lowering operating costs and optimizing underutilized vehicles for fleets as well as personal driving.
Among the observations of the experiment: Regardless of location, most HP drivers grabbed coffee at the same national coffeehouse and refueled with the same brand of gasoline, while traveling employees often left vehicles unused at the airport for days.
While it’s no surprise road-tripping employees stop for coffee, data analysis about commutes and driving routines could lead to greater economies of scale for company fleets and new solutions for optimizing underutilized vehicles.
The Future of Car Keys? Smartphone Apps, Maybe
IT’S not fun getting into a car when the interior is 130 degrees, but that’s a typical problem during the summer for those who live in a city like Phoenix, where outside temperatures can regularly soar well past 100.
But Sean O’Gorman 32, a software product manager, never needs to endure a furnacelike cabin. As an owner of a Tesla Model S, he opens an smartphone app a few minutes before he gets into the car and remotely starts his air-conditioner.
The app can do things that previously only a physical key could do, and more: Start the engine, unlock the doors, turn on the heat and monitor the battery.
If Car Buyers Dwindle, Ford is Trying to Find What’s Next
Last month Ford sent letters to 14,000 of its American drivers with an unusual suggestion: For extra cash, they could rent their cars to fellow urbanites wanting a cheap ride.
America’s second-biggest auto giant wouldn’t directly sell any additional cars or trucks under the arrangement; it wouldn’t even take a cut. But it would put Ford closer to the front of a movement in which cars are shared, ignored or Uber-ed — not bought.
The peer-to-peer rental experiment — which has the Bay Area in a prominent role — is only the latest weird move for America’s auto powerhouse, maker of the F-150 and Model T. Last month, Ford launched a pay-as-you-go network of shareable, on-demand cars in London, called GoDrive.
