Toyota's director of corporate sales Brian Mahony says fleet sales figures should be broken down into Motability, daily rental and contract hire to give a more accurate picture. Mahony pointed out that Motability sales accounted for a third of the year-on-year growth in the fleet sector - up from 472,000 to 504,000 - during the first six months of 1996.

Fleet sales in the first six months of 1996 accounted for over half an overall market of one million units and although the big three held on to the top spots, Ford, Vauxhall and Rover all saw sales fall. Fleet registrations in the first half of the year stood at 504,007 units, a 6.8% increase on last year - pushing the fleet share of the market from 49.6% to 50.4%.

Mahony was backed by Rover's fleet operations director Steve Harris, who said Rover's 10% decline in fleet sales would not have been as great if daily rental and Motability sales were discounted. Ford's market manager, fleet operations Nick Themistocleous said it was an interesting concept but could prove difficult to achieve.