Renault has drawn up plans detailing how it intends to use fleet sales to grab a 5% market share.

A key lynchpin in its strategy is for its dealers to target businesses operating under 50 vehicles.

To help dealers attract more local fleet business, Renault entered into an agreement at the start of the year with Arval, allowing dealers to offer small fleets improved contract hire rates.

Arval provides the rates as a white label service through Renault dealerships under the Renault Business Finance brand.

“Arval is one of the biggest suppliers in the UK so it has given us access to better rates in the market than we had been enjoying,” explained Darren Payne, the company’s new fleet and commercial vehicles operations director.

“We launched it on January 1 and so far our dealer network has raised over 5,000 quotes – it is going very well.”

Essentially, Arval provides the finance and writing of contracts, Renault and its dealers provide the vehicles.

“The SME fleet area is an area we felt we wanted to improve on, which is one of the reasons we engaged Arval, although it is still under the Renault Business Finance name.”

Dealers will also notice a change in the way the manufacturer is supporting small fleet sales.

“We have doubled our field team focused on the SME fleets and they have moved from being dealer-focused to being customer-focused,” explains Payne.

“We have got a two-pronged attack in the SME fleet arena: if it is a structured choice list then our team – Renault UK – will be involved, if it is just someone wanting buy a vehicle or a batch of vehicles then our dealers have the tools.”