– By Marc Sibbald –
In October 2015 Custom Fleet held a function for clients and business partners. Jim Halliday, executive vice president at Element Financial Corporation, was there and it was clear from his opening remarks that fleet management is back in fashion.
Custom Fleet has been a significant player in the Australian and New Zealand fleet market for several decades. But after a roller coaster ride under the stewardship of GE (the owner after it was sold by NAB in 2006) it’s now open for business promising to get back to its fleet management heritage.
The attendees at the breakfast were left in no doubt that Element is a fleet management business focused on leveraging global fleet management expertise via a strong local management team. And that Element will be bringing the benefits of their significant investment in technology to the local market to provide innovative products for customers.
Aaron Baxter, CEO at Custom Fleet, spoke exclusively to Fleet Auto News and explained why Custom Fleet is no longer the same business that was owned by GE.
“The first difference is our relevance to Element. We contribute approximately 12% of the total revenue so we are an important part of the global business. Next is local and independent decision making. We will be looking at things from our perspective rather than following the direction of a international conglomerate like Custom Fleet did under GE” says Baxter.
“And finally, as an organisation we will be aligned to one objective. Everyone from risk to sales will report to the one person”.
Halliday also shared some insights from the US market and commented on their future growth plans.
After the event the crowd was heard debating whether the highlight of the morning was keynote speaker, Gruen Transfer panelist Russel Howcroft, or the Tesla Model S that was parked outside by fellow speaker Heath Walker, marketing and communications manager at Tesla Australia, for everyone to admire.
