Hitachi Capital America (HCA) said it has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Canada, Hitachi Capital Canada (HCC), effective October 1, 2012. HCC will be based in Burlington, Ontario and will initially be targeting the truck transportation market in Canada building on its U.S. relationships with several major truck manufacturers.

HCC will provide dealer focused retail and floor plan financing. According to Bob Otto, sr. vice president & general manager of HCA’s Automotive Division, “Our U.S. manufacturing relationships are looking forward to Hitachi providing the same level of support for their dealers and customers in Canada as we do in the U.S.”

To facilitate and expedite its efforts in Canada, HCC, with the assistance of Hugh Swandel, the sr. managing director of Alta Group in Canada, has entered into a marketing and servicing agreement with CLE Leasing Enterprise, based in Quebec and Ontario.

According to William H. Besgen, president of Hitachi Capital America and now also president and CEO of Hitachi Capital Canada, “CLE is an ideal partner for Hitachi to expand in Canada as CLE specializes in providing financing for small and medium sized businesses throughout Canada with in-depth expertise and knowledge of the transportation and used truck markets. CLE can instantly provide the market experience required to support the Hitachi platform for outstanding service capabilities.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Hitachi in order to bring their brand of financial services to Canada,” said Luc Robitaille, president of CLE. “We are confident that this move will also help us expand our customer relationships and continue our own growth in Canada by sharing Hitachi’s commitment to service values and jointly growing our market share.”