South: Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions grows profits and market share

Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions grew profit to £24.8 million in FY18/19, the second largest market share increase among top leasing companies. The business unit, part of Hitachi Capital (UK) plc, now operates more than 68,200 assets totalling £822m.

Staines-based Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, which provides vehicle funding and fleet management services, has grown significantly over the past 10 years, with the annual volume of business rising from £100m in 2009 to £377m in FY18/19.

The business has also started the new financial year strongly with the recent announcement of a £136m contract to manage Network Rail’s owned and leased road vehicle fleet.

Announced this year, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions is also playing a key role in Optimise Prime, the world’s biggest trial of commercial electric vehicles. The three-year project, costing £18m, is led by Hitachi Vantara and UK Power Networks and brings together leading power, technology, fleet and transport companies to test and implement the best approaches to roll out EVs on the road at scale.

Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions’ role as fleet experts in the consortium is to bring fleet insight and a wider understanding of the impacts of the charging infrastructure, network service provision and commercial solution to identify optimal performance for alternative fuel fleets.

Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, commented: “In a challenging and rapidly changing landscape for the automotive industry, driven by changes to legislation, growth of registrations for alternatively-fuelled vehicles and ongoing Brexit uncertainty, we have worked closely with our customers to deliver market-leading solutions.

“Our integrated leasing and fleet management model is providing Network Rail with the right assets to improve compliance, vehicle availability and safety. We have also made significant investments in sophisticated systems, supporting Network Rail and other customers with real-time insights that can drive improved cost and environmental efficiencies across their fleets.

“In the longer term, support for a transition to green fleets must be a priority. As we have seen from our involvement in Optimise Prime, the industry is already rising to the challenge and we will continue to demonstrate leadership in supporting this movement.”

The business unit provides Total Asset Solutions, a proposition designed to increase the operating efficiency of its customers’ fleets. This extends beyond cars and vans to cover every kind of mobile asset, including large trucks, plant and machinery, as well as bespoke, specialist assets suited to individual requirements. The company has laid the foundations for future growth by investing substantially in technology that will improve customer experiences across fleet management and personal leasing service propositions.