Former fleet or lease vehicles are being hand-picked and sold largely via the internet through the company’s Motiva Direct subsidiary.

The firm said the initiative, first set up last month, has already shown signs of its potential and is expected to deliver significant profitability.

Peter Wright, sales director at Motiva Group, said: “We have largely disposed of vehicles through trade sales or auctions in the past.

“But the growth of the business means the number of cars and commercials coming back to us at the end of their contracts every year has increased substantially.

“We’re now making the best of them available to the private market and we’re confident it will bring excellent results.”

The new department turned over around 25 cars in its first month – a figure way above initial expectations, according to Peter Wright.

He added: “The vast majority of customers so far found us online and, because they’re coming from all over the country, our conversion rate has been very high.

“It has been very successful so far and we hope it will go from strength to strength.”

The project is being overseen by used vehicle retail manager Warren Shropshire, who joined the company at the end of last year.

He said: “Motiva Direct is not like a normal retail environment – this is more about matching the right vehicle to the right person.

“But buying direct from us means that we can pass on savings on a wide range of vehicles and we’re adding fresh stock daily to try to maintain a strong level of interest.”