RENAULT is adopting a radical approach to protect residual values of its new executive car, the Vel Satis.

Renault will build each Vel Satis to order and the car will not be included in any dealer sales targets, removing the pressure to force sales, and plans to buy-back every car.

Renault fleet director Keith Hawes said: 'If a customer orders a Renault at the beginning of a month the car should be delivered by the end of the month, but we aim to get the process down to 15 days.

'We will not build Vel Satis for stock and we want to buy back every car afterwards to keep control of used prices.' The Vel Satis goes on sale in the UK in March and will be priced from about £20,000-£30,000. It is available with a choice of 2.0-litre turbo or 3.5-litre V6 petrol engines, or 2.2-litre and 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engines.