LAND Rover is launching a new fleet strategy to make its first concerted drive to win business in the company car market. The Rover Group subsidiary says it has relied for too long on sales 'just happening' within fleet and is now to launch a fleet sales campaign. This will begin on October 4 when a new computer system goes on line which will allow Land Rover for the first time to analyse exactly which are fleet sales and which are retail.

Armed with this information, the manufacturer will begin a drive to increase its corporate customer base both through its dealership network and through the work of Rover's corporate sales director, Steve Harris, and his fleet team.

Land Rover UK sales director, Allan Rushforth, said: 'The fleet market is an immense and unexplored opportunity for Land Rover. This year we will sell more than 40,000 Land Rover models in the UK but, of these, we are currently guessing that about 40% are going into fleets. We have no accurate figures.

Rushforth says the new fleet focus for the four-wheel-drive manufacturer will also be accompanied early next year with the launch of a new used vehicle programme as Freelanders begin to arrive on the market in larger numbers.

New technology will also feature in the development of the Land Rover brand as it launches its first Internet-based dealer contact and booking service.

  • To access the Land Rover site click on the Buyers' guide menu button (left) and go to the Car manufacturers section.