Last year”s acquisition of National Car Rental”s EMEA business by Europcar, will provide the platform for the company to showcase its newly-strengthened proposition at this year”s Business Travel Show.
Europcar will also be holding a draw on its stand (632) for visitors to win a weekend”s rental of a Mercedes Benz SLK.
The acquisition of National has made Europcar the number one rental company in the UK, representing nearly 30% of the UK market, and the largest single purchaser of vehicles in the country. It also strengthens Europcar”s position as number one in continental Europe.
Europcar UK corporate sales director, David McNeil, said: ”The acquisition created a fantastic opportunity to completely enhance the product and service proposition both brands provide to businesses and their drivers. The Business Travel Show has come at a perfect time for us to unveil these exciting initiatives.”
In the nine months since the acquisition, the working practices of Europcar and National have been integrated to deliver enhanced customer service, with some of the key benefits including one fleet and more than 100 rental locations open 24h per day.
The offering is supported by a rental contact centre for both brands plus innovative online reservation tools to give customers control of rental costs as well as support duty of care responsibilities which will be vital with the Corporate Manslaughter Act going live in April this year.
McNeill continued: ”We know that having the confidence in vehicle availability is absolutely crucial to our customers. In Quarter 1, 2008, we will therefore be piloting guaranteed fleet availability within four hours of reservation for all Europcar customers.
”By the end of Quarter 1, we aim to have the biggest UK fleet of cars and vans in the daily rental market. Comprising 60,000 vehicles, it will include a significantly extended van fleet of 6,000 vehicles, enabling us to meet our customers” transportation needs every time.”