Fiat Group UK believes it can add 3,000 registrations a year through a programme that helps its dealers sell cars to small and medium businesses in their territories.

Thirty franchise holders expressed an interest in the Dealer Fleet Specialist (DFS) programme after Fiat provided the whole network with an outline and invited applications.

Ten were selected, giving a national spread including Scotland.

Fiat is not naming the dealers but all are in major conurbations.

Another five will be added and each DFS point is expected to achieve 200 sales a year.

Dealers are chosen for their experience with fleet customers and their commitment to finance the project.

Fiat’s low C02 figures are a key factor in marketing for the programme.

DFS replaces a looser sales system in which each dealer was primarily responsible for sales to local companies and supervised by Fiat’s corporate sales team.

Each DFS dealer appoints a fleet manager to provide customer support, monitor service levels and prospect new customers which Fiat rewards with financial bonuses.

Adam Pumfrey, Fiat UK fleet and remarketing director, said: “We are spending more time and money marketing to the fleet market because many smaller companies don’t run a structured fleet policy.

“We will work with dealers so that demonstrators are offered to companies to make them aware of what we have to meet their requirements.”

Cars and vans are included in the initiative, which is managed via an intranet with CMS capacity to link Fiat and its DFS dealers.

Fiat will collate sales leads centrally and provide support through its corporate sales team.

A training programme is planned for later in the year and will continue into 2009.

Fiat is making the DFS programme a priority in several European countries, with France and Belgium launching similar programmes.

Italy and Germany are expected to follow soon.