 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| ISIN | FR0012789949 |
| Industry | Car rental |
| Founded | Paris, France (1949) |
| Founder | Raoul-Louis Mattei |
| Headquarters | France  |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Alain Favey (Group CEO) |
| Revenue |  €2.929 billion(2018)[1] |
| €363 million(2018)[1] | |
| €139 million(2018)[1] | |
| Total assets | €6.495 billion(2018)[1] |
| Owner | Green Mobility Holding S.A. |
Number of employees | 8,999(2018)[1] |
| Website | europcar europcar-mobility-group |
Europcar Mobility Group is a Frenchcar rental company founded in 1949 inParis. The head office of theholding company, Europcar Group S.A., is in thebusiness park of Val Saint-Quentin at Voisins-le-Bretonneux (Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), France.[2]
Europcar currently operates in 140 countries coveringEurope,North America,Western Asia, andAfrica. Since July 2022, Europcar has been owned by Green Mobility Holding, S,A. a consortium led by theVolkswagen Group, Attestor, andPon Holdings. Keddy is the Europcar leisure rental sub-brand.[3]
Europcar Mobility Group was founded in 1949 in Paris by Raoul-Louis Mattei under the name of "The Automobile Subscription". The "Europcars" brand was created in 1951. After 20 years of growth the company was owned from 1970 to 1988 byRenault, theCompagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, andAccor.[4]
From 1998, Europcar had progressively been acquired by theVolkswagen Group, until it eventually became a subsidiary 100% owned by the carmaker in 1999.[5]
In 2006,Eurazeo, the investment company, bought Europcar from the Volkswagen Group. The amount of the transaction was worth 2.4 times Europcar'sturnover in 2005. The chairman of the Board of Eurazeo, Patrick Sayer, said, "We are thrilled by the acquisition of Europcar. With an initial participation of 900 million euros, it is due to become of the most significant investments for Eurazeo."[6]
In 2010, the group partnered withDaimler to launch the Car2Go service inHamburg, Germany.[7] Philippe Germond, who had beenCEO ofPMU since 2009, was named CEO of Europcar from October 1, 2015.[8] In January 2015, Europcar acquired Ubeeqo, astartup that specialises in corporatecarsharing.[9]
In May 2015, Europcar announced its intention to go public.[10] In early 2017, the company announced a trio of acquisitions: Milan based GuidaMi, Europcar Denmark, and Germany based Buchbinder. In December 2017, the company completed its acquisition of low-cost car rental company, Goldcar, for an enterprise value of €550 million ($616 million).[11] In April 2018, Europcar acquiredScooty, through Ubeeqo, a Belgian start-up that specialises in electric scooter-sharing in Antwerp and Brussels.[12]
In June 2018, Europcar ended its operations of its Israeli franchisee in theoccupied West Bank.[13] TheAmerican Friends Service Committee said, “After becoming a franchisee of Europcar, Israeli company Albar terminated its businesses in the occupied West Bank. Europcar thus joins other multinationals that have ended operations in illegal Israeli settlements”.[13] According to Israeli research centreWho Profits?, Albar previously had branches in two illegal settlements:Beitar Illit andModi'in Illit.[13]
In August 2019, Europcar acquired Fox Rent A Car, one of the largest independent players in the US car rental market.[14]
On 28 July 2021, Green Mobility Holding, which is a consortium led by the Volkswagen Group, Attestor, andPon Holdings, announced that the consortium would acquire Europcar Mobility Group, and the transaction closed in June 2022.[15][16]
Europcar's head office was formerly in theImmeuble Les Quadrants inSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.[17][18][19]
Europcar began sponsoring sport teams in 1980. The group sponsored a Formula One Renault team and theParis-Dakar rally. The company was also involved in other sports such as golf, horse racing, and marathons. Europcar has sponsored2009 ICC Champions Trophy organised byICC which was held inSouth Africa, although it was not a major sponsor. Since 2011, Europcar has been sponsoring the French professionalroad cyclingteam managed byJean-René Bernaudeau, names after the brand:Team Europcar. The group received the "Sponsor of the year" title for its involvement in cycling, awarded by Sporsora.[20]
In August 2014,Arsenal F.C. announced that Europcar UK had become the club's official car and van rental partner over a three-year deal.[21]
Europcar joined theUnited Nations Global Compact in 2005 and adopted the ten fundamental principles of the pact.[22] The company is invested in the "Green Charter" programme, certified byBureau Veritas and is also a partner of WeForest, an international non-profit organisation whose goal is to foster reforestation.[23][24]
In June 2014, the Australian Federal Court ruled that a Europcar franchisee (now corporate owned) inTasmania had "engaged in unconscionable conduct and made false or misleading representations when charging customers for damage to hire vehicles"[25] and fined the former franchisee owner $264,000.[25]
On 23 June 2017 the company's head offices in England were raided by LeicesterTrading Standards and a case referred to theSerious Fraud Office[26] due to accusations of overcharging customers for repairing damage to hire vehicles.[27]
