Europcar Launches Free Home Delivery and Collection

Released on: May 21, 2009, 6:41 am
Author: Europcar
Industry: Automotive

Europcar, the UK's leading vehicle rental company, is offering free delivery and collection for car and van hire with its new weDeliver service, allowing customers to phone the company and get a car delivered to their door within a guaranteed two hour time window.

Europcar's free delivery and collection service is designed to make car hire much more accessible and convenient at a time when people are looking for a safe and convenient way to get away in the UK for their holidays. The service is available for car and van hire of more than two days.

Unlike competitors where the customer has to be taken back to the rental location or car clubs where the car has to be collected from, or returned to, a designated parking spot, Europcar will deliver the car to the customer's door ensuring their holiday can begin without delay. At the end of the auto hire, the car will be collected and taken back to its original location by Europcar.

Delivery and collection is free for the first ten miles and after that a small, per-mile charge will be applied. The service is available from 152 of Europcar's 197 locations (excluding car hire in London and airports where good transport links make collecting a vehicle easier for consumers) and, once booked by phone, the car or van will be delivered to the customer's home within the two hours time slots from Monday to Friday and Saturday morning.

"The timing for this couldn't be better," said Catriona Lougher, Marketing Director for Europcar. "We know our customers want convenience, value and a simple, no nonsense car hire service. With household budgets stretched, and with reports that more of us will be staying in the UK for holidays this year, car hire is really coming into its own - whether it's for a bigger, more reliable vehicle for a holiday or to replace a second family car.

"While we have a strong network of locations that puts us on average just 20 minutes away from every customer, the time and logistics needed to collect a vehicle can be a barrier, especially when you have luggage and children to organise too. By removing the need to collect the car we are opening up car hire to a much wider range of customers. This is all part of Europcar's drive to become the UK's most consumer focused car hire company giving customers their car, their way."

About Europcar:
Europcar is the European leader in passenger car and light utility vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers, providing car hire in Edinburgh and throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Since March 2007 with the acquisition of Vanguard EMEA, its network comprises over 5,300 rental outlets in 160 countries. The Europcar fleet has an average CO2 of 158g/km compared to the average UK car park* which has 164.9 g/km CO2.

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 alliance to form the world's largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world.

* Based on 2007 figures from SMMT

Europcar PR Contact:
Dominic Dennis
HSL
Churcham House
1 Bridgeman Road
Teddington
Middlesex
TW11 9AJ
Tel: 020 8977 9132
Fax: 020 8977 5200
www.europcar.co.uk