Five of the popular EVs are now available from the hire firm’s London and Paris bases for short term hire as part of a three month trial. Three of London’s five will be available to consumers with the remaining two reserved for corporate clients.

With a range of 110 miles, the fully electric, C-Charge exempt hatchback is well suited for London driving, reckoned Rafael Girona, Chief Operating Officer of Europcar.

“Europcar has long believed in electric vehicles as a sustainable means of mobility and is committed to enabling early adoption of this type of vehicle,” said Mr Girona.

“We are proud to partner with Nissan to facilitate expansion of electric vehicles and provide our customers with the greenest possible mobility solutions.”

The zero emission vehicle will certainly meet London Mayor Boris Johnson’s approval as the capital battles to reduce its CO2 output and improve air quality.

Guillaume Cartier, Vice President for Sales Operations at Nissan International SA, hoped that customers would become LEAF lovers by evaluating the car in their own time.

Ken McCall, Managing Director of Europcar UK Group, added: “Hiring a Nissan LEAF could be the ideal option for motorists keen to reduce their fuel costs and avoid congestion charges.

“At the forefront of electric vehicle technology, it fits perfectly with our philosophy of pioneering sustainable car hire solutions, giving customers a real choice when it comes to car hire.”

Both companies will assess the trial’s success in May and could roll out the LEAF to other French and British cities if it proves a hit.

Proclaiming to be the first car hire firm in the UK to launch an hourly hire service, the firm’s new approach reflects the business model of car club schemes which likewise will charge by the hour . Europcar’s new service costs from just £10 per hour for a car and £11 per hour for a van.  There is of course a two hour hire minimum and a maximum of eight hours, available Monday to Friday only, with van hire excluding all airports.

Ken McCall, Managing Director, of Europcar UK the new service is being launched in response to pressure on family and business finances: “Car hire can be an incredibly flexible alternative to public transport, especially with the recent fare rises that have been introduced.  But we know that some motorists may be put off by having to commit to the cost of a full day’s hire, which has always been the traditional way this service has been charged.

“With our new Hourly Hire Service we wanted to break the rules to give motorists more flexibility – and take away the barrier of cost.  We are, therefore, offering busy travellers the ultimate in convenience, as well as taking the stress and expense out of owning a car in the city.”

The Hourly Van Hire service is the  perfect solution for those quick turn-around journeys, perhaps picking up furniture or materials for DIY.

“This is an exciting new addition to the range of services we offer our customers” continued Ken McCall. “Once again, Europcar is setting the standard for innovative vehicle hire solutions. Now customers can select a service to meet their specific needs and their budget.

“Whether it’s picking up a friend from the station, a quick shopping trip or using a van to move a piece of furniture, our hourly service means they just pay for the hours they need. It is the perfect complement to our standard vehicle hire service, as we continue to bring our customers more choice. Quality, flexible vehicle hire at a price to suit every budget.”

The vehicle rental firm was named the ‘World’s leading car rental company’, ‘World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company’ and ‘World’s leading leisure car rental company’.

Decided by 213,000 industry professionals, the World Travel Awards are considered the Oscars of the travel industry and seek to encourage innovation and creativity so that travellers receive the best possible service.

Jehan de Thé, Europcar’s e-commerce Director, beamed: “We are proud to get these new World Travel Awards for the third year in a row.

“They come as a reward for our commitment to offer our clients best in class service and re-affirms our position as the car rental leader in Europe.”

The awards are likely to find their home next to Europcar’s other prizes picked up during 2011, the Travel d’Or for the ‘Best car rental website’ in France and leading car hire company gongs in Africa, Australasia, the Middle East, and Mexico & Central America.

The report commissioned by the BVRLA found that rental cars were often newer, more likely to come with more recent safety technology, and emitted 12% less CO2 than privately owned cars [full story].

These findings made perfect sense to Ken McCall, Managing Director for Europcar Group UK.

“This report reinforces a message we have long advocated; that car hire can offer a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to owning a vehicle,” he commented.

“With motorists facing continued financial pressures with no significant signs of easing, cash-strapped drivers can get access to newer, better maintained and greener cars through rental only when needed and this provides a far cheaper alternative to owning a vehicle, which is only used occasionally.

“Additionally, use of rental vehicles when needed have far less impact on the environment – especially our low emission models and newer fleet.”

Government backing

Mr McCall added that Europcar has witnessed a growing trend in recent years of customers hiring on a day to day basis to suit their daily needs.

He went on: “Whilst the BVRLA report focuses on private users, we believe that rental can offer similar benefits for business users, providing cheaper and more environmentally friendly vehicles.

“Europcar has tailor-made products for business users such as 6 Advantage, which aims to make the rental process even simpler for fleets by providing all the benefits of short term hire for a fixed period, ensuring their long-term  needs are catered for whilst remaining cost-effective.”

Ken also expressed his delight at Transport Minister Norman Baker’s support for the report: “His backing recognises the benefits car hire can offer to the UK public, demonstrating the increasing recognition of car hire as a real option for those looking to save money and reduce emissions.”

He concluded: “We hope the results of this independent research provide the evidence to encourage even more private owners and business users alike to view car rental as a viable alternative to vehicle ownership.”

Ken McCall, MD of Europcar Group UK, says the flexible 6 Advantage, which provides business hire cars on a short term contract, gives corporate fleets an affordable alternative to car leasing and fulfils developing desires within the marketplace.

“Currently there is a real gap in the solutions available to fleets when ordering new vehicles,” he commented.

“Short-term vehicle hire would not be cost-effective for what can often be as much as six months waiting for new vehicle delivery and leasing requires a longer-term commitment from a business that is equally unsuitable.

“We have therefore created 6 Advantage to fill that gap.”

A range of new hatchbacks, estates, compacts, and vans are available on a fixed rate, 12,000 mile contract and come fully serviced with 24 hour breakdown coverage.

Mr McCall added: “We understand that our corporate customers need access to a range of car hire solutions designed to offer them flexibility and reduce fleet costs.

“We have designed 6 Advantage to provide competitive fixed rates on six month contracts, offering the benefits of short-term hire at cost-effective rates.”

This move makes Europcar the first British rental provider to offer the iOn which is available from Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports, as well as the company’s King’s Cross and Marble Arch bases.

These strategically selected locations will ensure London customers avoid the Congestion Charge and help the capital conquer its smoggy ‘big smoke’ reputation.

Being able to offer the iOn was a “tremendously exciting initiative” for Europcar MD Ken McCall (pictured right).

“Demand for electric vehicles to rent is really starting to pick up as both businesses and leisure drivers want to make the most of both the environmental and cost advantages,” he said.

“This demonstrates the fact that we are listening to our customers’ constantly evolving needs, and also reflects our core commitments to sustainable development and technological innovation.”

Although the iOn will only be available on a one day hire basis for now, Ken added that it was about maximising customer choice.

“Our goal is to give our customers the widest possible choice,” he concluded.

“That includes giving them access to the new generation of electric vehicles. Ideal for short city journeys we anticipate these will be immensely popular with many of our business customers who will really relish the cost savings they offer.”

Keeping on top of a vehicle’s condition and maintenance is a big job said Ken McCall, Managing Director of Europcar.

He believes fleets could avoid serious prosecution as a result of inadequate tyres and faulty lights by taking up daily rental.

“Large organisations tend to have fleet departments that have the systems in place to monitor vehicle condition,” he conceded, “but for smaller organisations, where fleet management might fall to someone who’s day job is focused elsewhere, this can be quite a serious issue.

“Not only could they face the legal consequences, through the Corporate Manslaughter Act, should an employee be injured if vehicle condition is the cause of an accident.

“But fines for faulty equipment can add unnecessary costs to a business. Plus the delays caused if a vehicle breaks down because it hasn’t been properly maintained can have a serious impact on the bottom line.”

Crucial

Ken reckons daily rental is the answer and not as finicky and complex as it seems.

He added: “First and foremost, businesses don’t need to worry about vehicle maintenance.

“If renting from a reputable company like Europcar, they will have the confidence that cars hired are on average 6 months old and fully maintained and serviced. Plus they will be supported by 24/7 roadside assistance should there be any problems.

“We see vehicle delivery and collection as absolutely crucial for businesses. Last year, we delivered over a million vehicles to our customers – more than any other UK car hire company.  Around 20% of our rentals are one-way, with a similar figure for delivery and collection for business travellers.

Greenlight used industry data to classify 356 of the most popular global destinations that people in the UK travel to, and profiled which search terms they used to find car hire companies in each location and how popular each search term was. Greenlight also took a set of generic keywords, which are not destination-specific but are also used when searching for car hire.

‘Car hire’ was the most queried term totalling 246,000 searches and accounting for 16% of all car hire-related searches in January. ‘Car rentals’ followed with 165,000 (11%).

The UK was the most searched for individual location.

In Greenlight’s top 60 league table which charts the most visible websites, CarRentals remained the most visible site in natural search, achieving 49% share of voice. This was a decrease of 5% since September 2009. EasyCar followed with 38%. It attained lower visibility for high volume driving keywords compared to CarRentals. However, since September 2009, it increased its share of voice by 6% which saw it replace TravelSupermarket at position two.

Top 5 of the 60 most visible car hire websites in natural search, UK

1. carrentals.co.uk (678,579) 49%
2. easycar.com (533,033) 38%
3. travelsupermarket.com (461,606) 33%
4. avis.co.uk (377,884) 27%
5. europcar.co.uk (353,695) 25%

A selection of Europcar stations across Europe will be equipped with the system from the third quarter of 2010 onwards.

Using this new system, Europcar’s customers will be able to gather information independently and interactively at hire locations about their chosen destination or theme-based routes (restaurants, landmarks, etc.), as well as nearby tourist attractions. The selected route can then easily be printed out at the Europcar station.

The application will also provide special services dedicated to Europcar’s customers, such as practical guides to extra hire equipment. 

“We are proud to be able to offer our customers this new device, a technological gem from Microsoft”, said Jehan de Thé, Europcar’s Global Marketing Director. “This approach fits with Europcar’s determination to innovate and facilitate journey planning whilst making car hire a more practical and pleasant experience for our customers.”

In the short term, all the applications will be available around the globe for any customers with a touch-screen computer.

In their continued endeavour to become the market leader for customer service, Lombard Vehicle Management (LVM) has appointed Europcar, which boasts Europe’s largest car hire facility in terms of customer transactions at Heathrow, as a new short-term hire partner. The new LVM now offers an entirely elevated vehicle hire operating platform, with an online booking facility automatically directing the customer’s request to the branch nearest their location.

“As with all our offerings we are constantly looking for ways in which we can enhance the customer’s experience and bring together the best available products and services to support them. Working with Europcar we have two businesses that are 100% dedicated to meeting the needs of our customers and finding innovative ways of extending our current product offering,” says LVM Managing Director Stuart Houlston.

“This new partnership underlines that we are actively investing in Lombard Vehicle Management,” Houlston adds. “We are recruiting in key departments such as consultancy services, SME business and large corporates, and investing in a multi-million pound system which will support the roll-out of new products and help us to achieve our customer service objectives. We know that we can not rest on our laurels, and as the third-biggest fleet management and contract hire business in the UK we need to make sure we continuously look at how we can improve the service we bring to our existing customers as well as exploiting new opportunities. Our strategy is to grow the business but our focus is absolutely to do this by making sure we delight our existing customers”

LVM has already launched Flexi-Rental, earlier this year, which offers business an alternative to long-term lease commitment and short-term hire expense.

Nick Harwood, Sales and Marketing Director for Europcar UK Group, says, “Europcar and Lombard share the same focus on delivering the highest standards of customer service, using technology where appropriate to streamline process and improve efficiencies. We are delighted to be awarded this contract.”

Europcar has over 200 UK branches, with a presence at over 53 airport locations and over 45,000 vehicles.

The new location pages have been designed to help improve customer experience for UK based Europcar customers, by providing them with additional details on the specific geographical location of Europcar rental sites as well as some up-to-date extra information regarding the local area, with this extra information provided by Europcar, customers can plan their journey more efficiently thus ensuring a relaxing and stress-free vehicle hire experience.

The new sections which have now been added to the UK site include enhancement through the use of Google Maps to help customers find the numerous car hire locations situated in cities around the UK, including the ever popular car hire London locations. As well as Google Maps, each individual page has up to date weather information for the city as well as details of any special deals for booking car hire online for each particular location.

Catriona Lougher, marketing director for Europcar, said: “The improved location pages on the Europcar website has really improved our customer’s experience. At Europcar we know that customers want as much information as possible available to them, to make their car hire experience simple and stress-free. With the inclusion of Google Maps, customers can now find out how far to travel to our locations and decide whether to take advantage of
our free delivery and collection service.”

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) the 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.”