GE to purchase 1,000 Electric Vehicles from GE Capital to purchase 1,000 Electric Vehicles from PSA Peugeot Citroen

The agreement, which was signed as a memorandum of understanding yesterday (September 14) in Frankfurt, involves the potential purchase of up to 1,000 electric cars from PSA Peugeot Citroen, by GE Capital, which the company would offer to its customers at a pan-European level.

The agreement would see GE Capital lease EV vehicles across Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

GE Capital is a leading lessor of vehicles, with a customer fleet of approximately 250,000 vehicles in Europe, and 1.6 million globally.

In July 2011, GE Capital announced the first European supply of EV Citroen C-Zero cars to technology giant, 3M. The PSA Peugeot Citroen move furthers GE Capital’s public commitment, made in November 2010, to purchase 25,000 electric vehicles globally by the year 2015.

“This is a landmark agreement and we are affirming our commitment to the future of electric vehicles and building on our strong relationship with European car manufacturers,” said Isabel Fernandez, at GE Capital EMEA.

“Among fleet managers, we have seen a growing demand for our assistance in reducing their total cost of ownership and in meeting environmental commitments. As fuel prices represent an ever-increasing portion of the total cost of ownership, EVs will surely help our customers to reduce this burden.”

The agreement, signed by Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, President of GE Europe and North Asia and CEO of Germany, and Jean Marc Gales, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing at PSA, also indicates both parties’ intention to create a Customer Experience Centre, where potential and existing customers will be able to test drive the EVs and further explore the technology.

www.ge.com