Europcar Car Hire Goes Mobile

Released on: October 5, 2009, 7:52 am
Author: Europcar
Industry: Automotive

Europcar, the European leader in light utility vehicle and passenger car hire, has announced the launch of a new service which makes reserving vehicles easy via mobile phone.

With over 8 million adults in the UK accessing the internet via their mobile phone, a growth of 42% on 2008*, Europcar, Europe’s leading vehicle hire company, has launched car hire booking on the go with a new mobile car hire service reservation service for online booking from any web enabled mobile phone.

An integrated search engine makes it easy to find the desired car hire location, and there is a special application for iPhone users which automatically selects the nearest station. Customers can also book additional equipment, such as satellite navigation systems and child seats, through this system. To ensure a reliable and practical service, confirmation of each reservation made by cellphone is sent immediately and free-of-charge by text message and e-mail.

Once booked, the confirmation is sent immediately by free text and email.

Available in seven languages (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) and for all Europcar vehicle hire locations around the world, the innovative service is compatible with all mobile phones that have Internet access (including Blackberries, iPhones and other smart phones).

As part of the launch, a car hire deal of a 10% discount is being offered to Europcar customers until the end of November 09. This offer applies to reservations of all passenger cars, as well as to vehicles in the "Prestige" range. Contractual conditions for business customers will be applied automatically when they enter their contract number.

"We want to stay at the cutting edge of innovation and forge close relationships with our customers," said Guirec Grand-Clément, Global Sales and Marketing Director of Europcar International. "This new service illustrates our commitment and provides greater flexibility for the most mobile among these customers. As a result, every owner of a mobile phone with Internet access can now reserve a Europcar vehicle at any time at any location in our network around the world."

Providing a swift and easy way to book vehicles, this latest development is a further example of Europcar’s commitment to make car hire simple, accessible and stress-free.

*Source: Ofcom

About Europcar:
Europcar is the European leader in passenger car and light utility vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Excluding franchise operations, in 2008 Europcar signed more than 10 million rental contracts, with 8,000 employees and a fleet exceeding 225,000 vehicles. In September 2008, Europcar and U.S. market leader Enterprise Rent-A-Car joined forces in a strategic commercial alliance to form the world’s largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world. Europcar is owned by the French investment company Eurazeo.

In addition to being the European market leader, Europcar is leading in its environmental approach to car rental. It opened its first "environmental agency" in Paris in 1999, and in 2008 it was the first company in Europe to have its "Environmental Charter" – which formalizes its commitments in favor of sustainable development -- certified by Bureau Veritas. In 2008, Europcar was also the first company ever to win the World Travel Award for "the World's Leading Green Transport Solution Company."

PR Contact:
Lorie Lichtlen
Burson-Marsteller
6 rue Escudier
Boulogne-Billancourt Cedex
Paris
92772
+33 (0)1 41 86 76 76
www.europcar.co.uk