KOREAN manufacturer Hyundai will create a specialist department to deal with business sales and would like to change the way the industry views fleet.

Jeff Peyton-Bruhl, national fleet manager, told Fleet NewsNet: ‘To many people, fleet means daily rental, deep discounts and buy- back deals. To me, fleet is anything that is bought with a company cheque.’

Eight months into his new role, Peyton-Bruhl is creating a new corporate operations department and sees growth coming from small businesses.

He would like to see Hyundai’s market share grow from 1.5 to 3% over the next three years.

‘There are a lot of misconceptions about fleet,’ said Peyton-Bruhl. ‘As much as 70% of new car sales go to business users and we are looking at ways in which we can get to local businesses with our story.’

New product in the pipeline includes a new lower-medium sector five-door hatchback in petrol and diesel versions. The car is scheduled for launch in summer 2007.

‘Hyundai is the sixth largest manufacturer in the world and that’s something many people don’t know,’ added Peyton-Bruhl. ‘We will look at LCVs in the future, too. Panel vans and the like, but that’s two years away.’