“We want to get the top FN50 companies to feel confident presenting our products to customers,” he says.

“The crossover is a key vehicle for us. We very much see this as a trigger car to do business with FN50 companies.”

However, Suzuki is keen to avoid the rental industry as  Wale believes it delivers growth on a short-term basis, not for a longer-term objective.

“We have no plans to take a peak and troughs approach,” he says. “We want to achieve consistent growth. What we don’t want to do is target expensive business like daily rental.

“We don’t want to go down that route and we won’t go down that route.

“We are not looking at short-term growth, we are looking at a longer-term strategy.”

The range - key players for fleets

Swift

According to Suzuki, more than 55% of people who test drive a Swift go on to buy one.

The outgoing Swift features a 1.2-litre petrol or 1.3-litre diesel engine, CO2 emissions from 109g/km and fuel consumption from 67.3mpg.

Fleets accounted for 10% of its 10,500 sales last year. A four-wheel drive Swift will be available later in the year which is hoped to open up a new range of customers to the brand. 

 

 

 

S-Cross

A new C-segment crossover car should ensure Suzuki appears on the radar of fleets and user-choosers.

Rivals will include the Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga. The car is based on the S-Cross concept that appeared at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, but its name is yet to be announced.

The car will be offered with a range of petrol engines as well as a 1.6-litre Fiat-sourced diesel engine.

The new model will make its world premiere at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show.