COWIE Interleasing has expanded its ability to offer multinational companies a global fleet service. The Birmingham-based contract hire and fleet management company is a member of Interleasing Europa, the consortium of leading leasing operators, which has admitted new international partners from Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark and Finland.

The new companies join market-leading leasing companies representing nine European countries and one of the USA's largest leasing firms, Chicago-based Wheels Inc. In an effort to reflect its increasingly global approach, the consortium, which now manages more than 450,000 vehicles, has changed its name to Interleasing.

The organisation enables partners to market tailored fleet solutions, taking into account different pricing structures, currencies, tax regimes and working practices in the countries involved. For example, new partner BML Leasing of Toronto - Canada's third largest leasing company with more than 16,000 vehicles - will provide services to Canadian subsidiaries of clients of Cowie Interleasing, while Cowie can deliver services to British subsidiaries of BML's Canadian customers.

The other new international partners are: Helsinki-based Merita Finland, which has a fleet of 13,500 vehicles and contacts throughout the Baltic States and the former Soviet Union; Nordania Leasing of Copenhagen, Denmark's largest fleet operator with more than 5,000 vehicles and Autoleasing CR of Prague.