The go-to-market name for PHH Arval will transition to Element Fleet Management between now and the end of 2014. Element Financial Corporation, a Canadian-based equipment finance company, acquired PHH Corporation’s North American fleet management unit for $1.4 billion in cash on July 7.

"We recognize we have many people who call us 'PH&H' or know us as 'PHH Arval,' 'PHH,' or even the 'blue bar,'" said Jim Halliday, president of North America for Element Fleet Management. "We were PHH for a long time, and accomplished a lot of amazing things. But, when you boil it all down, what's important is our customers, our employees, and the supplier relationships we have developed with other market participants. Whether we're Element Fleet Management or PHH Arval, we're still going to be doing all the same things and care about the customers just as much as we always have."

Element Fleet Management reports directly to Element Financial Corporation and it is a subsidiary of a Canadian company. Halliday reports to Brad Nullmeyer, president of Element Financial Corporation.

"I'm running a North American business and I have the president of our Canadian business, Patricia Furgiuele, reporting to me, which is very similar to how we operated as PHH Arval. Nothing has really changed structurally and Element Fleet Management, GE Canadian fleet portfolio and TLS business (both of which it purchased earlier) will eventually fold into the platform established as PHH Arval," said Halliday. "Element Financial has a transition services agreement to use the GE platform in Canada up until the end of the 2014 calendar-year. Our plan to accommodate a smooth transition for all Canadian clients to the PHH Arval system is well  underway."

Element Financial is one of North America's leading equipment finance companies. Element Financial operates across North America in four verticals of the equipment finance market including commercial & vendor finance, aviation finance, railcar finance, and fleet management. Element Financial Corp. was founded in 2007.

By Mike Antich

Editor's Note: An interview with Jim Halliday on the acquisition of PHH Arval by Element Financial Corporation will appear in the September 2014 issue of Automotive Fleet magazine.