J. (John) Paul Hubbard, long-time fleet manager for Imperial Tobacco Ltd. in Montreal, Canada, and former NAFA Fleet Management Association president, died Jan. 12, in Ste. Rose, Quebec, Canada. He was 75.

Hubbard was the marketing administrative manager for Imperial Tobacco Ltd. His responsibilities included management of the company's vehicle fleet. Imperial Tobacco is an international tobacco company, with its products sold in over 160 countries worldwide. Hubbard retired from Imperial Tobacco in 1994.

During his career in fleet management, Hubbard served as president of NAFA from 1989 to 1991.

Hubbard pioneered many early fleet initiatives at Imperial Tobacco, such as the team concept approach, where fleet management is part of a larger management team that reports directly to the vice president of marketing. He foresaw this type of management approach being adopted by more companies.

Hubbard was also a fleet visionary who envisioned the fleet manager of the future assuming greater responsibilities and, within certain companies, would evolve  into "people movement" managers, a thought which was a harbinger of today's mobility management trend occurring in European fleet management.

Hubbard is survived by his wife Pierrette Hubbard and his five children.

By Mike Antich