ORDERS for more than 3,500 Mitsubishi Carismas, worth £60 million at showroom values, have been taken by the Circencester-based importer since February. The sales boost coincides with the recruitment of three new fleet sales executives - David Morris, Sue Williams and David Parry and with the manufacturer's pricing initiative, which saw reductions of up to 15% across the Mitsubishi range.

The first staff cars under a new contract have been delivered to Volvo Truck and Bus, Interleasing and BCC, and the new fleet team has secured deals with rental firms Avis, Practical Car Rental and Mersey Hire. May's orders amounted to 600 vehicles, worth £9 million, and a further 400 were expected to be concluded in June for another £6 million. This represented a fleet sales rise of 96% year-on-year, with sales up from 389 units to 764.