The annual Fleet Europe Awards, held on 6th December at the Casino in Estoril (Portugal), had a festive quality this year, as 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Fleet Europe Magazine; and because the ceremony included a few well-received innovations.
The most notable of these was the inclusion, for the first time, of a Global Fleet Manager of the Year Award. Winner of this accolade was Juergen Freitag, Head of Global Fleet Management at Siemens AG.
Other major awards went to Peter Szelenyi, Global Fleet Category Manager and Regional Travel Category Manager Region Europe at Novartis, who won the 2017 European Fleet Manager of the Year Award; and Tim Albertsen, Deputy CEO at ALD S.A., who was selected as this year’s inductee into the International Fleet Hall of Fame by the online votes of the European fleet community.
The Fleet Europe Awards recognise outstanding achievements in various categories of fleet management. This was the 11th edition of the event, organised by Fleet Europe, the media platform specialised in B2B information on international car fleet and mobility management. The Awards were attended by over 800 international car fleet and mobility professionals from around the globe.
2017 Award Categories
- European Fleet Manager of the Year Award
- Global Fleet Manager of the Year Award
- International Fleet Safety Award
- International Fleet Mobility Award
- International Fleet Innovation Award
- Smart Mobility Start-Up Award
- International Fleet Industry Award
- International Fleet Hall of Fame Award
The most prestigious prizes in the eight categories awarded this year were those for European Fleet Manager of the Year – a perennial favourite – and for Global Fleet Manager of the Year – a new award this year.
European Fleet Manager of the Year Award
The European Fleet Manager of the Year Award is traditionally the most prestigious and coveted accolade of the evening. It rewards the person or team having most successfully developed an international fleet management strategy and implemented an efficient Europe-wide car policy, leading to an optimised TCO.
The jury recognised three candidates as worthy of distinction. The winner of the 2017 Fleet Europe European Fleet Manager of the Year Award was Peter Szelenyi, Global Fleet Category Manager and Regional Travel Category Manager Region Europe at Novartis AG. He received his award from Mark Howlett, Fleet Sales Manager Europe at KIA.
The runner-up in the category Fleet Europe European Fleet Manager of the Year was Michael Pohl, Sr. Procurement Engagement Manager Fleet at Microsoft. He received his prize from Vinzenz Pflanz, CSO at Sixt Leasing.
Second runners-up in the category Fleet Europe European Fleet Manager of the Year were Prachi Misra, Sourcing Director at NCR and Danilo Djurovic, Europe Fleet Manager at NCR. They received their award from Andy Leeden, Global Category Manager at AstraZeneca, and winner of the 2016 International Fleet Manager of the Year Award (Large Fleet).
Global Fleet Manager of the Year Award
As globalisation continues within the fleet industry, so does the importance of managing fleets on a global level. That’s why, for the first time ever, the Fleet Europe Awards celebrated a Fleet Manager of the Year with a specifically global role.
The Global Fleet Manager of the Year Award aimed to honour a team or person managing a fleet at global level – i.e. on at least two continents – and having successfully developed a global fleet approach.
The winner in of the 2017 Global Fleet Manager of the year was Juergen Freitag, Head of Global Fleet Management at Siemens AG. He received his prize from Stefan Herbert, Senior Manager International Corporate Sales at Mercedes-Benz.
Siemens AG is the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe; Mr. Szelenyi is responsible for 48,000 vehicles worldwide.
The runner-up in the category Global Fleet Manager of the Year was Lee Warner, Global Fleet Manager at Unilever. He received his award from Jörg Löffler, CEO at Fleet Logistics.
Second runner-up in the category Global Fleet Manager of the Year was Kim Stenberg, Head of Global Fleet Procurement at Vestas Wind Systems. He accepted his prize from the hands of Steven Schoefs, Editor in Chief at Fleet Europe.
