Howkins told Fleet World Confidential: 'It’s really an expansion of my existing position, dealing with some of our largest European accounts and trying to introduce a more proactive approach to the process of new business development.

'Opel /Vauxhall have a significant number of European fleet customers, and we also work extremely closely with the major leasing companies across Europe. As well as developing these relationships, I will also be helping some of the less mature markets to establish a fleet business model that incorporates best practice from the UK and other markets where the fleet business is more well developed. I’m looking forward to the challenge,' he added.