He said: ‘We’ve had an outstanding year so far. We’ve sold more than 20,000 fleet vehicles within the first six months, Toyota fleet sales are up by 27% and Lexus by 31%.

‘It’s a tough fleet market and in order to be stand out, you really have to offer businesses something special. We’ve introduced a new Customer Charter to ensure the best aftersales care, we’ve launched a number of tax tools which clearly demonstrate why Toyota and Lexus win hands down on total cost of ownership, but at the end of the day, above all, you need vehicles that really perform –and for us, petrol hybrid technology ticks all the boxes – it offers affordability, reliability and sustainability.

‘The facts speak for themselves, our hybrid sales have increased by 37.5% and our iconic hybrid, the Prius is the world’s best selling car during 2012.’

Shepherd continued: ‘Petrol hybrid technology is the fundamental basis for our future technology development. It offers low emissions, higher efficiency, quiet driving and dynamic performance in terms of power and acceleration. Hybrid is the future in fleet – it offers businesses a flexible modern option for a truly green fleet.’

Toyota and Lexus Fleet Services recently launched six new models to its range: the Toyota Yaris Hybrid, Prius Plug In Hybrid, Prius +, GT 86 and Lexus GS 250 and GS 450h.