Stephan Beck has been appointed to the role, bringing 10 years of experience of working in Arval, first as general manager of Arval Switzerland and then Arval Portugal. Prior to this he spent six years as fleet sales manager for Mazda (Suisse) SA.

As group innovation director, he will lead and facilitate the culture of innovation within Arval on the whole. He explained: 'Our wish is to develop the innovative mindset that exists within the group by harmonising the way we treat and we offer Innovation to our customers on a worldwide scale. Once an idea takes root in one market, our goal is to be able to evaluate the potential of success of that innovation in a different market.’

Mr Beck says that his first priority will be working on the company’s advice on electric vehicles in response to the needs of customers looking for an environmentally friendly solution to their mobility needs.

He stressed that EVs are not the only answer for fleets: ‘Not all customers can easily make a choice between a low-emission vehicle, a hybrid vehicle or an electrical vehicle by themselves. Arval is committed to providing expert advice; and giving answers to customers’ questions, helping them to define what vehicle fits the best with their mobility requirements…’

Arval says that it has already shown that innovation is a real stake at the core of its strategy with the development of services such as Arval Analytics, the "Measure & Management" programme or the Arval Mobile application.