Executives at a Japanese car firm believe the format of a popular TV programme will lead to a 50% growth in its business with UK fleets next year.

A “substantial” investment in a fresh fleet strategy has been signed off by the Suzuki GB board after a series of Dragon's Den-style presentations by middle management members, Fleet News can reveal.

The Milton Keynes-based subsidiary is boosting its fleet management team with five new officials and appointing an extra staff member to take charge of relationships with leasing companies in a drive aimed at taking annual corporate registrations to the 15,000 mark.

“We copied the Dragon's Den format by getting middle management members to come up with ideas to benefit the business,” said sales and marketing director Dale Wyatt.

“It soon emerged that fleet development was a critical area and as a result, the directors have bought into a new fleet strategy that will put a proper infrastructure in place to separate residual value management and service and maintenance costs from the sales activity.

“The aim is to beef up our administration so we can offer our fleet customers the more tailored service that they need.”

Wyatt said the manufacturer had not had the full infrastructure in place to provide the levels of service that leasing companies required, but it was now very serious about “getting it right”.

“We know we have high customer-driven demand for our products, yet we see products that we outsell in retail outselling us in fleet,” he continued. “I think that can only be a result of relationship and infrastructure issues and I can see no reason why we can't add another 5,000 units to our current level of fleet sales.

“If user chooser customers were voting with their own money, we would do as well as some of our competitors.”