Orix Corp., the operator of Japan’s largest car rental and van rental fleets, may invest in infrastructure for electric cars or vans to boost earnings from its environmental businesses, chief financial officer Haruyuki Urata said.
“While we’re naturally not a maker, there are opportunities to help spread the use of electric cars and make them easier to use through rental, leasing and car sharing,” said Urata in an interview yesterday.
The Tokyo-based company aims to expand its environmental business by partnering with automobile and property companies, to tap demand for fuel-efficient vehicles spurred by the Japanese government’s stimulus plan. Japan’s incoming Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, said this week he wants to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, a more ambitious goal than that of outgoing premier Taro Aso.
“Orix Auto is Japan’s biggest car rental company and it could leverage its sales network to introduce re-charging stations,” said Wataru Ohtsuka, a Tokyo-based analyst at Nomura Securities Co. “The company’s environmental business is but one of many, however, and its contribution to earnings small.”
Orix leased 3.04 million cars in 2008, giving it a 19 percent share of Japan’s automobile leasing market, according to the company’s annual report. The holding company had 616,000 automobiles under management in its rental, lease and car sharing businesses at the end of March.
Urata didn’t identify any specific investments or companies that Orix may target.
Lack of fast-charging stations on roads and at home is one of the key challenges to wide acceptance of electric cars. Auto consulting company CSM Worldwide predicts global electric car production will only reach 289,000 units by 2015.
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