Alphabet International - Sustainable Leasing and Fleet Management Solutions

Alphabet is a business mobility provider in Europe offering corporate customers a wide range of services and cars of all brands. It combines future-oriented ideas with extensive knowledge in fleet management and leasing. The company creates flexible business mobility solutions to meet today's economic and ecological needs while at the same time shaping tomorrow's mobility market.

Fleet management, financing and leasing

Over the past 15 years, Alphabet has risen rapidly from a start-up to an outstanding provider of business mobility in Europe.

The company was founded in 1997 in the UK as a division of BMW Group. It immediately pursued a vigorous multi-make strategy, while also providing company cars in the premium segment.

International car fleet management

In its first three years, Alphabet expanded quickly onto the continent, beginning with Germany, where it maintains a very strong presence, followed by Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

After helping a global logistics company streamline its operations in 2000, Alphabet began building up its expertise in managing international fleets - a particularly complex task that requires consideration of many different factors.

Another round of expansion followed, with offices opening in France, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway and Sweden. By 2006, nine years after its founding, Alphabet boasted 150,000 cars under management.

The company then acquired two leasing companies, LHS and DSL, increasing its fleet size to the tenth largest in Europe.

Tailor-made fleet management solutions

The acquisition strategy paid off. Alphabet continued to grow steadily over the next years. It gained a greater international foothold and was soon represented in 16 countries, including three co-operations with UniCredit Leasing in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.

Alphabet repeatedly demonstrated commitment to its customers and a readiness to find, design and implement tailor-made, innovative solutions for all aspects of business mobility. The multi-make strategy proved vital in attracting new customers looking for flexible solutions to their mobility challenges.

Smartphone and web-activated corporate car-sharing system

In past years, Alphabet has used its growing strength to develop smart solutions for companies, like the corporate car-sharing system, AlphaCity. Corporate car-sharing is in tune with a social trend towards using automobiles rather than buying them. AlphaCity was introduced in France, Germany and the UK and will be available in even more European markets by the end of 2012. The advantage of this flexible mobility solution is lower total cost of mobility for companies. Employees no longer have to use expensive taxis or rental vehicles to get to business meetings. They can use AlphaCity cars instead, which can be booked quickly and simply using a smartphone or a web-accessed terminal. Thanks to state-of-the-art telematics, all travel costs are clearly itemised and sent to accounting for payment. Furthermore, AlphaCity cars can also be used for private trips, for which the employees pay by credit card.

Car-sharing models are one aspect of a trend in fleet management, which is being reconceived as mobility management. In the Netherlands, Alphabet has taken this trend even further with customers offering their employees various modes of transportation, such as trains, buses and bicycles, to complete their itinerary. Alphabet's key point is to offer sustainable business mobility with maximum flexibility.

Corporate car leasing and service contracts

In order to move to the next level, Alphabet sought a new merger. After years of careful consideration, the choice fell on ING Car Lease, a subsidiary of ING Group. The company had expertise in leasing and a strong presence in countries where Alphabet was either less represented, like Belgium and the Netherlands, or not present at all, like Poland and Luxembourg. Alphabet now has more than 474,000 cars under management, is well positioned in 19 countries and ready to expand its international customers.

In addition to strengthening its multi-make strategy, Alphabet is also ready to take steps towards long-term sustainable proposals for its customers, such as introducing electric mobility into fleets. Through a well-thought-out combination of organic growth and acquisition, Alphabet has managed to become a major player and it is here to stay.