The landmark vehicle, a Vauxhall Vivaro, was delivered to home assistance company HomeServe, and closely follows the company's global milestone of 700,000 vehicles across 25 countries, which was reached in July.

Arval UK managing director, Benoit Dilly, said the growth has been driven by increased renewal rates and expansion with its existing customers, as well as additions to its SME portfolio as confidence in the market and contract hire as a product continue to increase.

The expansion also follows recent investment in customer service, through the Arval Smart Experience digital platform, Arval Total Care fully insured leasing solution and a new account team structure, as well as ongoing internal training and career development for employees.

That’s a momentum that the company is hoping to continue during 2015, with the launch of a mid-term rental solution and an increased focus on its commercial vehicles. With a 30% commercial vehicle share, reached organically rather than set as a target, Arval has a significantly higher weighting in the van sector than the 15-20% norm, and the company hopes to be seen as a specialist as it progresses towards a target of 130,000 vehicles in the mid-term.

‘I think that 7-8% percent market share is a first target for us, so we’ve increased from 5.5% to 6% in 2014,’ he explained. ‘It will depend on us and on the ability of the market to grow, and on our competitors. The point is to focus on this momentum and everything we need to put in place to make sure we are growing significantly.’