Total Blends Toyota Into Its Mix
The Toyota badge has joined a restricted manufacturer base for the 1200-strong fleet of leading oil company TOTAL UK. The decision to specify Toyota alongside Renault-Nissan and vehicles from the PSA Group has been based on a number of key criteria, according to the company’s Strategic Sourcing Leader Julian Power.
“The Toyota brand was selected on a combination of health and safety considerations, commitment to future technology, breadth of range and the whole life cost of the vehicles,” said Mr Power.
The Toyota agreement covers TOTAL in the UK, which has operated in this country since 1955. TOTAL is the world’s fourth largest energy group and Europe’s leading refiner and marketer of fuels. TOTAL UK has two refineries, a lubricant blending plant and a bitumen plant as well as 900 TOTAL branded service stations throughout England and Wales. These account for 10 per cent of the UK market, selling more than 3 billion litres of fuel and lubricants each year.
The TOTAL UK fleet consists of a combination of cars for sales and some technical staff, plus vehicles for area and regional managers. These are supplied on contract hire on a four-year, 75,000-mile replacement cycle. Many employees are also supplied with cars on a personal contract purchase basis within the restricted badge agreement.
“The Toyota Avensis will be a primary choice for our job-needs vehicles, with any model available for the employee cash-for-cars scheme,” said Julian Power. The company currently has two Avensis models, with T3-X and T3-S grade specifications, as long-term demonstrators for its staff.
“We consult drivers carefully to see what they want in terms of comfort, reliability and every other element,” said Mr Power. “Their reaction to this new addition to the fleet has been very positive – the feeling is that Toyota has a strong brand image and has an excellent range.”
“For the Toyota badge to be specified in this major fleet is gratifying, particularly given TOTAL’s policy to date,” said Toyota Fleet’s General Manager Jon Pollock. “The areas on which we have scored – environmental and economy considerations, research and residual values – are all those on which Toyota places great emphasis and we’re sure that the choice within our range will provide something to meet the needs of everyone in the TOTAL workforce.”
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