Mercedes-Benz is looking to make up lost ground in the fleet market with the launch of the E-class estate in January, reinforcing the saloon range which took to the UK roads earlier this year.

UK product manager for E-class Nick Williams said the luxury estate segment of the fleet market for sportier models with manual transmissions is "opening up", although Mercedes, he admitted, did not previously have a compelling offer.

"We have already seen a steady increase in sales in the E-class saloon, particularly the sports model, and we will now be bringing in estate models with the latest manual transmissions supported by technologies such as handbrake hold functions, and hill start assist. We will also have sports estates with the E500 available from launch and the E63 AMG joining the range in March next year," explained Williams.

He added: "As far as the fleet sector is concerned, manual transmission is critical for us. Around 40% of Audi and BMW sales in the segment are manuals - ours is just 2%. I want to push that into double figures as soon as possible. There is a tremendous opportunity for us.

"We have still to confirm prices but we are looking at a premium of around £2,000 on average over the saloon models."

Current E-class sales in the UK, 2,000 last year and 4,200 in its best year in 2004, are split 50:50 between fleet and retail against its two German rivals whose corporate sales account for closer to 70%.