Gérald Roux, managing director of Kone France, said that the two cars will be placed in service in the cities of Trappes and Nice, where they will be used as service vehicles on a carsharing basis.

Kone France currently runs a fleet of 3,000 vehicles, which is responsible for 40% of the company's CO2 emissions. Mr Roux said: 'After obtaining a decrease in average consumption through our choice of vehicles and by changing our employees' behaviour – with the help of an economical driving contest, among other things – we now feel that other solutions are required and are turning resolutely towards the future. We decided to place an order for two electric vehicles after determining that the Citroen C-ZERO is capable of responding to these new challenges. This order represents a first step that will allow us to test the range of these vehicles, their charging capabilities and their adaptation to our needs.'

Whilst the vehicles offer environmental benefits, Arval highlighted that this is not at the detriment of cost. Philippe Noubel, group deputy managing director of Arval, said: 'In concrete terms, the acquisition of a Citroen C-ZERO vehicle by our customer Kone is a rational extension of their approach to reducing CO2 emissions. Their decision was based on an analysis of TCO that places this vehicle on equal footing with an equivalent internal combustion engine vehicle! This order also highlights the strength of the partnership between Citroen, Kone and Arval, which is destined for international expansion.'

The order is the first signed for the newly launched Citroen C-ZERO 100% electric city car. David Staniforth, director of Citroen Business International at Citroen Automobiles, said: 'This opportunity to celebrate Kone's first order for the Citroen C-ZERO in partnership with Arval at Citroen's stand at the 2010 Paris Motor Show is a great moment for Citroen on two accounts. First of all, it demonstrates once again that Citroen provides innovative and concrete product solutions, perfectly adapted to the needs of businesses. Today, the electric car is a commercial reality at Citroen, offering a new solution for businesses like Kone that have strong sustainable development policies and have opted to reduce their CO2 emissions. As director of Citroen Business International, the second point of importance for me is to see our three brands recognised at international level, united in the pursuit of the same objective: the promotion of more sustainable mobility.'