Seat’s fleet team has expended its test drive offering to incorporate the Ibiza supermini.

According to the Spanish brand, the extended test drive option provides business drivers and fleet decision-makers with greater access to the latest models.

Seat claims the success of the four-day testing programme, which launched last October with the Ateca, expanding to cover the Leon and Alhambra models, has led to more than 1,000 test drives being booked online and through the firm’s dealer network.

The firm said that by expanding the amount of time available to live with the models will allow business drivers and decision-makers to “get under the skin” of the vehicle.

“The programme has been a runaway success,” said Peter McDonald, head of fleet and business sales at Seat. “We listened to businesses and have huge faith in our products, and, as a result, it has proved to be extremely popular with user choosers and fleet managers alike.”

He added: “As with the Ateca, Leon, Alhambra and previous Ibiza, the new model can be experienced in a real-world setting, including different roads or even a typical commute or day on the road. We are sure businesses will jump at the chance to try the latest Ibiza.”

Earlier this week, Seat announced its fleet sales experienced growth of 37% year on year in the first half of 2017. The firm put much of the success down to the introduction of the Ateca crossover earlier this year and predicted the upward trend would continue with the recent arrival of the all-new Ibiza lower-medium model and the Arona crossover going on sale by the end of this year.

According to Seat, true fleet sales are up by 63% year on year, while Motability sales have increased by 277%, with the company being the fastest-growing firm in the latter sector.

Seat also announced plans to reduce its rental sales volumes by a third to support residual values “for customers who require a robust overall proposition”.

These results go against recent new car registration trends, with the new car market declining for four months in a row as a result of the new VED regime coming into force in April and an increased sense of economic uncertainty surrounding the post-Brexit talks.

Last month, fleet registrations fell by 10.1% compared with July 2016’s figures, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.