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 then owned from 1970 to 1988 by Renault, the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits and Accor.
Volkswagen subsidiary
From 1998, Europcar had progressively been acquired by the Volkswagen Group, until it eventually became a subsidiary 100% owned by the car constructor in 1999.
Buy-back by Eurazeo
In 2006, Eurazeo, the investment company, bought Europcar from the Volkswagen Group. The amount of the transaction was worth 2.4 times Europcar's turnover 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." In 2010, the group partnered with Daimler to launch the Car2Go service in Hamburg, Germany. Philippe Germond, who had been CEO of :fr:Pari mutuel urbain|PMU since 2009, was named CEO of Europcar from October 1, 2015. In January 2015, Europcar acquired Ubeeqo, a startup that specialises in corporate carsharing and mobility solutions. In May 2015, Europcar announced its intention to go public. In early 2017, the company announced a trio of acquisition: Milan based GuidaMi, Europcar Denmark and Germany based Buchbinder. In June, the company announced its intention to acquire low-cost car rental company, Goldcar, for an enterprise value of €550 million. In April 2018, Europcar acquired Scooty, through Ubeeqo, a Belgian start-up that specialises in electric scooter-sharing and mobility solutions in Antwerp and Brussels.
Corporate affairs
Europcar's head office was formerly in the Immeuble Les Quadrants in Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France.
Commitments
Sport sponsorships
Europcar began sponsoring sport teams in 1980. The group sponsored a Formula One Renault team and the Paris-Dakar rally. The company was also involved in other sports such as golf, horse racing and marathons. Europcar has sponsored 2009 ICC Champions Trophy organised by ICC which was held in South Africa, although it was not a major sponsor. Since 2011, Europcar has been sponsoring the French professional road cycling team managed by Jean-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. Irizar PB coach 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.
Corporate citizenship
Europcar joined the United Nations Global Compact in 2005 and adopted the ten fundamental principles of the pact. The company is invested in the "Green Charter" programme, certified by Bureau Veritas and is also a partner of WeForest, an international non-profit organisation whose goal is to foster reforestation.
Legal
In June 2014, the Australian Federal Court ruled that a Europcar franchisee in Tasmania had engaged in unconscionable conduct and made false or misleading representations when charging customers for damage to hire vehicles" and fined the former franchisee owner $264,000.' On 23 June 2017 the company's head offices in England were raided by Leicester Trading Standards and a case referred to the Serious Fraud Office due to accusations of overcharging customers for repairing damage to hire vehicles.
