MOBILITY supplier Europcar will no longer trade the National Car Rental and Alamo brands in the UK.
The vehicle rental specialist has returned the two brands to Enterprise Holdings which owns them, but which Europcar had operated under licence since 2007.
What does the InterRent brand offer?
InterRent was first introduced in July 2013 as a no frills car hire company available in the UK, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. In the UK, InterRent operates from 21 locations. Prices start from £10 per day.
Instead, Europcar said it would concentrate on its Europcar brand and the low-cost InterRent brand in the UK.
“Making life simple is at the heart of what we are trying to achieve for our clients. By focusing our strategy on Europcar and InterRent, we will clarify our brand portfolio, improve customer perception and continue to strengthen Europcar’s position in its key markets,” said Cyrille Giraudat, chief marketing and clients officer at Europcar Group.
However, the National and Alamo brands may well continue in the UK, but operated by Enterprise Holdings instead of Europcar.
Jim Burrell, Enterprise Holdings’ senior vice president, European operations, said:
“Having control over the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands means that we can now decide how best to realign them in order to bring increased choice to our customers.
“Over the years, Enterprise Holdings in North America has developed three distinct brands to meet the needs of leisure, business and replacement customers.
“Today we can begin to explore how we can utilise National and Alamo to better serve the needs of our customers across the EMEA region and provide them with greater consistency of service,” added Burrell.
What happens next?
- Europcar has handed back the National and Alamo brands to Enterprise in the UK and EMEA region
- Enterprise will now take forward the National and Alamo brands in the EMEA region
- Enterprise already operates the National and Alamo brands in North America
Enterprise Holdings has owned and operated the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands in North America since its acquisition of Vanguard in 2007.
The termination of the agreement with Europcar has concluded a process that started in August 2013, when the two companies ended their strategic alliance under which Europcar managed inbound business for National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car throughout much of Europe.