TRUE. This sounds a bit industry-biz from me. But it has implications on what you will be driving – and how your business will go about mobility – in the future.

First the bare bones bit.

Alphabet has bought ING Car Lease. Both are car leasing companies, the former the international multi–marque fleet management division of BMW Group, the latter the leasing arm of the Dutch financial bank. Following regulatory approval, the deal should be closed by Q4 2011 for EUR 637 million (about £569m).

But what’s interesting here is what BMW aims to achieve with this in the future. I’ve written about BMW i before in this blog: it’s BMW’s eco sub-brand. We’ll see the first vehicles coming from this brand in 2013 with the launch of the i3 (an electric car) and the i8 a year later (a sports car with ultra low emissions) – see blog 559.

But BMW i is also about mobility – how we will get around megacities in the future and what form that transport will take.

“The strengthening of the fleet management business is in line with the BMW Group Strategy to be the leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility,” commented Norbert van den Eijnden, head of Alphabet.

“There is an increasing demand for flexible mobility and usage solutions. Corporate Car Sharing within the fleet management is one of Alphabet’s current initiatives in order to be prepared for future demands.”

There is of course more to the deal than just that. But BMW clearly sees Alphabet providing a variety of mobility solutions for your business in the future – whether BMW Group products or not. It sounds like a fascinating journey into managing business cars is really starting.