THE new Jaguar S-type will herald a new era for the luxury car maker and spread its customer appeal, but fleet customers will still remain vital to the company's success, according to chairman and chief executive Nick Scheele. The firm is determined it will become more than 'an annoying buzz in the ear' of German rivals such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, according to Scheele, who launched the new S-class at the Motor Show in Birmingham.

In the company's 'crusade' to build sales, fleet will form a large element of the 100,000 units a year expected to be sold from the three model line-up in the year 2000. Scheele said production of all models could eventually reach 200,000 units as it launches the X400 in the new millennium and battles for fleet and private sales against larger manufacturers.

A new fleet programme has been specially devised by Jaguar to support sales of the new S-type, which is being built at Castle Bromwich following a £400 million development programme. Development of the new S-type was influenced by the new Ford 2000 programme, which aims to maximise use of resources and speed up development of models.