Volkswagen  Financial Services has appointed Iker Lazzari to the newly created role of head of sales and marketing to drive its market share in the corporate and SME fleet market.

Lazzari has over 18 years experience working within the Volkswagen Group.

He has held a number of senior positions including market development manager, national contract hire and leasing manager for Volkswagen Passenger Cars and most recently operational strategy manager for group fleet services.

VWFS said one of Lazarri’s biggest tasks is to ensure that the fleet market appreciates all of Volkswagen Group Financial Services offerings, in particular its capability to provide fleet vehicles from all manufacturers, in addition to leveraging close relationships with Volkswagen Group brands.

He will also be building awareness of the company’s non-asset based products and services, including telematics and fleet management solutions, fuel cards and employee focused schemes, such as salary sacrifice for cars.

Lazzari said: “The business already has all the fundamental elements and offerings needed for it to become the major player in the fleet market.

“What we now need to do is make sure both our existing customers and prospects realise the real breadth and depth of our portfolio and the benefits they can get from procuring fleet solutions from one source.”

VW Financial Services has grown its business fleet by 19.8% in the last year and is one of the top 10 lenders to the fleet and business market.

Recently the UK operation reached a £10 billion lending portfolio, giving it a 19% share of the automotive finance and insurance market in Britain.  It also finances six out of 10 new car sales to private consumers.