Seat’s new fleet boss is putting improved communication with the fleet industry at the top of his priority list as the brand aims to grow its market share this year.

Nick Andrews, who has recently joined as head of fleet and business sales from sister brand Audi, where he was national fleet sales manager, believes the Spanish manufacturer has a great deal of goodwill from the industry, but it hasn’t always been the best at communication.

He said: “The core of our business is to have regular communication with the industry.

“We have got great product but awareness is lacking in some areas, which is something we need to improve upon, and quickly.

"Fleet sales are all down to relationships and we need to get into a position to influence decisions.”

Andrews has also put the Fleet News FN50 list at the heart of his plans, and intends to make contact with the majority of leasing players in the table, describing this as ‘an absolute focus’.

He was speaking as Seat rolled out its new Exeo upper-medium model. Along with an ST estate version which is available to order now for July delivery, he believes Seat can grow its share of the market from its current level of 1.4%.

Andrews added: “The Exeo has takes us to the next level and allows us to talk to a lot more fleets.

"This is especially important as a lot of companies are looking for a single solution and wanting to reduce the number of relationships they have.”

Last year, Seat sold 29,397 cars in the UK, with fleet and business sales accounting for 15,265.