Inchcape Fleet Solutions (IFS) is to be rebranded as Kinto, the new mobility brand launched by Toyota earlier this year.
Toyota Fleet Mobility (TFM) bought IFS last year for £100 million, completeing the acquisition in December 2019 and continuing its expansion in Europe.
IFS offers a portfolio of fleet management and funding solutions for passenger and commercial vehicles across corporate, public, not-for-profit and SME sectors.
The rebranding of IFS as Kinto is expected to be completed by July.
Kinto is derived from the Japanese word kintoun or flying nimbus, a cloud which provides on-demand transport for a famous animated character in Japan.
Tom Fux, CEO of Toyota Fleet Mobility Europe, said: “The acquisition of IFS was an important milestone for TFM in the European market.
“As Toyota transitions from being a car manufacturer to a mobility company, rebranding IFS as Kinto not only ensures that the IFS business remains neutral, it also supports our strategy to grow our total European business by adding new mobility services to our traditional business models.”
TFM is a joint venture between Toyota Financial Services Corporation, headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, and Toyota Motor Europe, based in Brussels, Belgium.
The company was established in 2018 with the aim of developing a European base for future mobility services by providing full-service leasing products. TFM has subsidiaries in France, Italy and Spain.
Matthew Rumble, managing director Inchcape Fleet Solutions, said: “With a strong growth plan and investment from our new owners, we are delighted to have this opportunity to grow our business and continue on our exciting fleet and mobility journey under the new Kinto brand.”
Kinto is dedicated to offering mobility services to users across Europe and is part of Toyota’s global vision to evolve into a mobility company that provides all kinds of services related to the transportation of people, all around the world.
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Gareth has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist having started his career in local newspapers in the 1990s. Prior to joining Fleet News in 2008, he worked in the public sector as a media advisor and is currently news editor at Fleet News.
Paul Gauntlett - 06/03/2020 15:16
It seems that just about every major manufacturer has a multi brand leasing company (sorry Mobility company!). BMW have Alphabet, Fiat have Leaseys, Mercedes have Athlon, VW Group have VWFS, Vauxhall / PSA has Freedom to Move and now Toyota have Kinto. I just wonder if the reason is to provide 'Mobility' Solutions or a way get a foot in the door of their rival manufacturer customers or at least a defence against the other manufacturers that already can. In fact I think Ford, Nissan / Renault Alliance , Hyundai Group and Volvo are the only major manufacturers without one. Are they looking at Leasing companies and wondering if they need a 'Mobility' solution?