“To be a serious contender in the market you need to have low CO2, strong residual values and low SMR costs, otherwise you will need a big pot of money to subsidise the car and that is not our idea at all – we need to grow our fleet business profitably,” says Wale.

With 145 dealers in the UK – 33 solus and 112 dual-badged – Suzuki is well positioned when it comes to geographic coverage.

However, Wale admits getting dealerships to focus on fleet business has been a challenge.

“More than 85% of our dealers are retail focused so it is a real challenge to emerge into this market and give the dealers confidence to go after that business,” he says.

The regional Suzuki Finance teams have been working with the dealers to highlight the best ways to present the prices to business customers.

Making sure companies are aware of the different products and services offered by Suzuki is another key objective for Wale.

“The main thing is to identify and work to the strengths we have got and the experience we can offer, then making sure that fleets are aware of that,” says Wale.

“We need to increase our brand awareness and have launched many new campaigns this year to do just that.”

The growth in 2012 came largely from Motability sales and niche business opportunities.

These will both continue to play a core role in the manufacturer’s plans together with the SME market. The relaunch of Suzuki Contract Hire last year supports this.

“If you have something unique to offer, you need to make the most of it and we are fully focused on those niche opportunities,” says Wale.

“We have created a lot of business opportunities from having niche products and that will become even stronger.

“Some sectors, like the public sector, need to have a small 4x4 vehicle and we offer a low price option for them.”

He also believes the new crossover is an ideal car to create business opportunities with the UK’s largest leasing companies.