The new office means Sofico’s customers can be better supported by local, native speaking staff who are familiar with the market.

It is based in the city of Puebla, southeast of Mexico City, and is being staffed by existing personnel seconded from Sofico’s offices in Ghent, Belgium, and Tokyo, Japan, along with several locally hired employees.

The intention is to grow the Mexico-based staff so that Sofico customers throughout the Central and South America region can be serviced more effectively.

Gémar Hompes, Sofico managing director, said the new initiative would provide more effective project staffing and support, as well as extending Sofico’s global reach.

He said: “For our international customers, the fact that we are now able to cover office hours in all time zones through support staff based in Europe, Asia and the Americas is a big benefit.”

The opening is the latest part of its regional expansion plan. Customers in the Netherlands have been supported by a dedicated office situated near Utrecht since the end of last year.

The company has recently reached a series of milestones, with the number of vehicle contracts managed by its mainstream Miles software system topping the 1.5 million mark for the first time.

Hompes added: “We believe our growth strategy is a key to our continued success. The establishment of local offices assures a close proximity to our customers and helps us in attracting new staff with knowledge of the local market and local languages. We plan to set up additional offices in key European markets in the near future.”

Sofico was founded in 1988 in Ghent, Belgium and has 29 years’ experience and business expertise in the leasing and fleet management industry. It is privately owned, independent and currently employs 220 people.

The company has installed its systems in more than 20 countries worldwide and Miles is currently managing more than 1.5 million vehicles globally.