ONLY three of the top 10 fleet manufacturers increased their fleet sales last year, failing to offset dramatic losses among certain players. Vauxhall was the most striking success story, boosting its fleet sales by 7% to 182,379 registrations, largely on the strength of Astra, which achieved a 13.8% increase in sales to 59,222 units, and Corsa which grew its fleet sales by 35.7% to 40,595 units.

The supermini is at a stage of its life where Vauxhall can load it with extra specification while keeping its price keen, and may also have benefited from the stand-off between Motability and Ford, Rover and Peugeot during the first three months of 1999. Among other manufacturers, Volkswagen was the star performer, boosting its fleet sales by 45.1% in 1999 to 71,958 units.

The new Golf had a spectacular year, selling 28,288 units into fleet - an increase of 93% on 1998 when availability was scarce and enough to make it the 10th most popular fleet car, while Polo increased its fleet sales by 22% in a 'run-out' year for the old model. The only other notable 1999 improvement in performance came from Honda, thanks to the new Accord, with further room for progress in 2000 when both four- and five-door Accords will have their first full year on sale.

Elsewhere, Ford, Peugeot and Renault saw slight, single-digit falls in their fleet sales during 1999, although this should be viewed in the context of spectacular gains by the two French marques in 1998. Troubled Rover, however, had nowhere to hide, with its fleet sales tumbling 42% to 46,934 - just 4.63% of the fleet market - as the 200 and 400 were run out for new year replacement by the 25 and 45. And despite its high profile launch, the 75 failed to make it into the fleet top 25 best-seller list.