Lombard Vehicle Management has secured a deal with environmentally-friendly private hire service greentomatocars to buy and leaseback its fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids.

The sale-and-leaseback solution involves 54 vehicles, with up to 20 new Priuses scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2009.

The majority of the greentomatocars fleet has to date been funded on hire purchase, largely through Lombard.

Company co-founder Jonny Goldstone said: “When we started the business in 2006, hybrid residual values were uncertain as the vehicles were new to the market, and this had to be reflected in contract hire rates.

"Residuals are now much more solid as the vehicles are established and legislation is encouraging their use.

“In these circumstances we can confidently commit to a leasing strategy and can enjoy the benefits.

"Not only are we free of residual value risk but the administrative burden of disposing of the vehicles is removed.

"With a large and growing fleet of vehicles we were in danger of becoming a used car dealership rather than a private hire company.

"In addition, our vehicles are highly-visible, liveried marketing tools so it is important for us to have up-to-date, well-maintained vehicles on a regular change cycle and contract hire helps ensure this."

Greentomatocars (www.greentomatocars.com) is based in Brentford, Middlesex and has a sister operation in Sydney, Australia.

The company double-funds carbon offset projects to compensate for unavoidable emissions, and does not charge a premium for going green.