Newsroom

Date: Thursday, August 31, 2006

Safety, drivability, fuel economy and retained value, underpinned by Subaru's full-time All-Wheel Drive the key factors behind...

Europcar first to fleet with Subaru

Europcar has become the first car rental company in Australia to operate Subaru cars.

Europcar Asia Pacific and Subaru Australia announced today that Subaru is supplying 700 Forester Xs, 500 Outbacks and 300 Impreza 2.0i sedans under an Australia-wide contract, which is Subaru Australia's biggest ever fleet deal.

The Subaru Impreza will slot into Europcar's Intermediate range (ICAR) with rates from $55 per day for a weekly rental. The Forester and Outback will be in the Standard range (SCAR) with rates from $68 for a weekly rental.

Safety, drivability, fuel economy and retained value, underpinned by Subaru's full-time All-Wheel Drive, were the key factors in Europcar's decision, according to General Manager of Europcar Asia Pacific, Eoin MacNeill.

"Our customers are looking for alternatives to the big six cylinder cars and at the same time are seeking safety and comfort," he said. "As a premium brand, Subaru dovetails very nicely with our requirements."

"We have a two-pronged approach of appealing to leisure customers looking for load carrying space and business people wanting economy, with safety a prime consideration for both sets. Again, Subaru scores on all points."

From operations and re-sale aspects, the engineering and retained value of Subaru cars offer business management advantages too, said Mr MacNeill.

The 1500 Subaru cars will represent a significant part of Europcar's 8500-strong Australian fleet in the coming months. They will be progressively located across the company's 120-branch network.

Subaru Australia's Managing Director, Nick Senior, said the Europcar contract would expose the brand to many thousands of people who may not normally have access to a Subaru.

He said Subaru was winning increasing numbers of fleet and "user chooser" customers with reliability, durability, retained value and engineering among persuading factors.

About Europcar

Since taking over the operations of Europcar in Australia in December, 2004, Europcar Asia Pacific has:

  • established the Europcar brand across New Zealand
  • gained total ownership of branches in the Northern Territory and Western
  • Australia which gave management virtual total ownership of the branch network
  • established franchise agreements in India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan
  • introduced the EUROS REWARDS loyalty program for agents and concierges
  • renewed preferred operator alliances with Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue and Accor Group of Hotels
  • became the exclusive car rental partner in Velocity, Virgin Blue's loyalty program, including both earning and redeeming points across all Europcar product range.
  • expanded the Ready service program for corporate clients
  • secured exclusive access to luxury Audi.
  • introduced a Full Protection Package providing customers with a zero liability in the event of damage to the vehicle
  • introduced Snow Protection Package (SPP) which provides insurance cover for car rental above the snowline (the first of the major car rental companies to do so)
  • commenced a program for fitting cars with GPS, either mobile unit or car-fitted
  • added branches in Ballarat, Bathurst, Richmond, Camberwell, Avalon Airport (Victoria), Snowy Mountains Airport, Griffith Airport, Hornsby, Hurstville, Broadway (New South Wales) and Bunbury (Western Australia) to present a 120-branch network in Australia.