TOYOTA'S fleet customers will not be asked to carry out transactions in Euros, despite calls to suppliers of its UK factories to ditch sterling. The company says it has been stung by the strength of the Pound and the falling value of the Euro.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing has asked for any new business contracts with its component suppliers to be quoted in Euros instead of Sterling, removing the risk of fluctuating currency values. But distributor Toyota (GB) says the move would only affect component suppliers and would not make any difference to fleet customers.

A Toyota spokesman said: 'As a distributor we will still be using sterling because our customers use it and there would be no obvious benefit in changing.'

Honda and Nissan, the other Japanese manufacturers with large plants in Britain, have said they will not be following suit for component suppliers, and there would be no benefit to buyers if they bought their cars in Euros.