The Easygroup company is planning to reorganise its car rental business and then float it on the stock market.

Easycar is just one part of the business set up by Stelios Haji-Ioannou and best-known for its bright orange logo and livery.

The car rental arm was launched two years ago with a fleet of Mercedes A class cars.

For �10 we will clean the car

Stelios Haji-Ioannou Easygroup

Now the company plans to move away from these cars to cheaper models from manufacturers including Vauxhall and Renault.

Self-cleaning cars

Easycar is also intending to step out of line with rivals by giving customers cheaper rates if they clean and refuel their hire cars.

The system has already been piloted in London, and the company said drivers were happy to fill up the petrol tank themselves and keep the car clean if it meant a price reduction.

Mr Haji-Ioannou told BBC News Online that 85% of customers were choosing to clean the car themselves or look after it during the rental so that it did not need deep cleaning when returned.

"That reduces our labour costs and increases fleet utilisation as the car can be rented out almost immediately," he said.

"The beauty of this system is that for the 15% of our customers who value their time more than �10, there is still a convenient way out.

"For �10 we will clean the car," he added.

Stock market debut

Mr Haji-Ioannou wants this new business model to be rolled out across the business within nine months.

He also wants to expand the fleet from 6,000 to 20,000 cars.

The aim is to float Easycar on the stock market in November 2004.

The listing would be modelled on the flotation of the group's airline Easy jet, with approximately a quarter of the company initially offered to investors.

Easycar made a loss of �7.5m in the 12 months to September 2001.

Mr Haji-Ioannou said he believed the new business strategy would enable the company to break-even more quickly.