CORPORATE sales staff at Honda are to become 'strategic advisers' under plans to win a bigger share of Britain's fleet market.

In what is believed to be a unique development in the industry, regional sales managers will have less direct contact with key company car buyers in future. Instead, they are being told to develop closer working relationships between Honda UK and 55 of its dealers who are now operating as corporate sales centres.

Corporate sales manager Nicholas Phillips: 'This is a significant shift in attitude which will increase our development by fostering closer working relationships. Our network will take over more responsibility for the day to day management of user chooser fleet business. The dealers will get closer to the key corporate accounts and will win more sales as a result.' Three new corporate managers have taken the company's regional sales team strength to 12.