SILICONE product supplier Dow Corning Corporation has awarded the contract to supply its pan-European fleet of 400 company cars to Lease Plan. The deal will initially affect Dow Corning's fleet in Austria, Germany, France, Belgium and the UK, but will expand further afield - the company employs 9,000 people worldwide.

John Francis, Dow Corning's quality and supply manager, said: 'We wanted a company which had the global capability to meet all our needs as we expect the contract to expand into Italy, Spain and Sweden in the short to medium term. Previously we had used a number of fleet suppliers in various countries, but wanted to consolidate all our vehicles under one supplier. We worked closely with Lease Plan, putting together an international fleet policy which ensured consistency across Europe.'

The vehicles will be funded on Lease Plan's Open Calculation product, with accident management included as part of the deal.