The contract was awarded following the group's review of its existing vehicle fleet and its search for a new vehicle that met all the product criteria it was looking for whilst offering significant savings, in terms of contract hire rates, environmental impact and whole-life costs.

Ian Green, group fleet manager, said: 'Concerned at the rise in our fleet operating costs we researched the market for a mid-sized estate car that satisfied a number of operational requirements. We were seeking to reduce operating costs for both ourselves and our drivers, demonstrate to our customers we are taking positive steps to reduce our carbon footprint and enhance driver satisfaction by providing a fit-for-purpose vehicle that provided plenty of space, comfort and specification.

'Kia clearly demonstrated how this could be achieved with the cee'd SW EcoDynamics by offering us savings on our contract hire rates, National Insurance contributions and Benefit-In-Kind. The seven-year warranty was also an important factor. Combine all of this with great feedback from our drivers on the cee'd SW's performance, fuel consumption and specification and I believe we have found the ideal fleet car for our engineers' use,' he added.

The fleet of cee'd SW EcoDynamics will be used by engineers within security, tele-care and fire protection companies – namely, Cirrus, Interphone Security Group and Instant Fire Protection – whilst they visit clients across the UK to perform installations, upgrades and on-site maintenance.

Commenting on the deal, Andrew Sellars, head of fleet & remarketing for Kia Motors (UK) Ltd said: 'I'm delighted that our EcoDynamics range has again been chosen by a group seeking a great combination of pricing, ownership costs, equipment and low emissions. Combined with our industry-leading seven-year warranty it's no wonder that many fleet managers are now adding Kia to their shopping lists.'