FLEET sales at Chevrolet are to be integrated into a central Vauxhall sales team as part of a plan to make the brand a market-leader in the budget sector.

The move would mirror the integration of Saab fleet sales into a central team, run by Maurice Howkins, which led to a massive rise in its sales to companies.

The plan is currently in the early stages of development, but would create a broad portfolio to offer fleets covering value, mainstream and premium brands. Any changes are likely to be made at the end of the year.

As part of efforts to build the Chevrolet brand in the UK, models will be backed by a three-year multi-million pound growth plan designed to make Chevrolet the number one player in the value segment by 2008.

The plan is one of a number of initiatives pencilled in for the next few months. Among them is the launch of a new entry-level specification level for the Vauxhall Vectra.

Although details have yet to be revealed, it is likely to be similar to the launch of Saab 1.8i, which was designed to attract more user-choosers to the brand.