LeasePlan forms a new partnership with Toyota Motor Europe on environmental fleet solutions

LeasePlan Corporation, the world's leading fleet and vehicle management company, announced today a new partnership with Toyota Motor Europe, the European branch of the world’s largest hybrid vehicles manufacturer, that will bring corporate fleet clients the latest innovation in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Under the terms of the relationship, Toyota Europe will share with LeasePlan its expertise in alternative powertrains including the recent insights gained from a trial with more than 600 pre-production Prius Plug-In Hybrid vehicles in the world, 200 in Europe, over a three-year period.  LeasePlan will bring Toyota its expertise of managing 1.3 million vehicles and one of the largest corporate fleet portfolios worldwide, giving it the opportunity to increase the visibility of its upcoming Prius Plug-In Hybrid prior to its commercialisation in 2012.

By combining the strengths and the visions of the two companies, LeasePlan can offer its corporate fleet clients additional solutions that help improve the operational and environmental performance of their fleets. This perfectly fits with Toyota’s ambition of further popularisation of full hybrid technology as it looks to meet the challenge of reducing not only CO₂ emissions but also Particulate Matter and NOx to improve air quality.

“We are excited to enter into this new partnership with Toyota in connection with the new Prius Plug-In Hybrid. For many years we have worked with our clients on improving both operational and environmental fleet performance. It is partnerships such as these that help us continue to meet the needs of our clients and, at the same time, further support our ambitions in this area. The insights we will gain through this relationship will be valuable to our sustainable mobility approach and will further support our global GreenPlan service” said Vahid Daemi, Chairman of the Managing Board and CEO of LeasePlan Corporation N.V.

“With the commercial launch of the new Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, the partnership with LeasePlan supports our commitment to offer fleet customers a greener, more efficient mobility solution. Toyota has already put almost 3.3 million hybrids on the road, the introduction of the Prius Plug-In Hybrid is a major step in our company’s journey towards sustainable mobility by reducing energy consumption, improving air quality and further curbing CO2 emissions. We are very satisfied to partner with LeasePlan. By endorsing our technology, Lease Plan will not only help us to raise its awareness and understanding but also enable us to engage with their customer base.” said Didier Leroy, President of Toyota Motor Europe.

Every year LeasePlan purchases several thousand Toyota and Lexus full hybrid vehicles in the 30 countries in which it operates. As a result of the strategic relationship, LeasePlan will look to engage its clients with the new Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid which comes to the market in 2012. This vehicle, combining hybrid driving with an extended electric only cruising range, has already been gathering interest from major corporate clients following a comprehensive client demonstration by LeasePlan Italy. This will be followed by a further programme in Germany leading up to the IAA, the international motorshow, held in Frankfurt/Main from 13 to 25 September. Furthermore, a number of other clients will also have the chance to test drive the vehicle in the coming months in Switzerland, UK and the Netherlands.