Seat in the past has been unsure about whether it wants to be in fleet or not, according to md Peter Wyhinny.

"So far, we have been paddling in the fleet pool without getting too wet," said Wyhinny.

"Now we are serious and have recognised not only that fleet is important for our growth, but we will not achieve in fleet without big investment", added Wyhinny.

This 'big investment' is already underway. The Spanish manufacturer has already begun putting in place a fleet specific unit in its retail dealers to ensure they too, are part of the fleet push.

Seat fleet boss, Andy Webb, said progress is already being made. "Leon has already gotten us onto lists we haven't been on before. "Combining with the new FR range that used to be 40% of our core business we will see significant growth," said Webb.

2007 will bring its challenges for 20th place Seat, who grew its business by an impressive 24% to 7659 in the first half of this year.

Broadening the range will be the forthcoming Altea derivative, rumoured to be the company's first seven-seat mini-MPV. Expect the firm to give it a big fleet push.

"We aim to do three things, raise our awareness with in the 300+ fleets, develop the business sales centre program and target areas of new business," said Webb.

So where will fleet sit in the future of Seat? "Our aspiration is to double 'true' fleet (contract hire and leasing) business from the current 15%," said Peter Wyhinny.

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