Europcar and Mazda Car rental sign exclusive partnership for Japan
Europcar enters the Japanese market partnering with Mazda Car Rental company with 75 co-branded locations. Development of reciprocal international business is key objective. Europcar, the leading European car rental firm which is 100% owned by Eurazeo, today entered into an exclusive long-term partnership with Mazda Car Rental Corporation, one of Japan’s leading car rental companies.
As of September 1st Mazda Car Rental will feature Europcar branding in key rental locations throughout Japan. The Partnership reinforces Europcar’s already successful expansion strategy for the region including a recent Master Franchise Agreement developing more than 20 Territories in the Asia Pacific region.
At the same time Mazda Car Rental and its customers benefit from Europcar’s worldwide network and expertise, with Europcar and Mazda Car Rental jointly approaching major Japanese and international corporations and the Japanese outbound car rental market.
The mainstay of the exclusive Partnership is the serving of mutual customers with a high standard of service quality. Europcar and Mazda Car Rental are both actively increasing their international business through a variety of initiatives including dedicated teams and call centres, and this agreement confirms and reinforces these commitments.
In a statement about the Partnership, Salvatore Catania, CEO, Europcar International said: “Partnering with Mazda Car Rental aligns Europcar with a leading and dynamic player in Japan and reinforces our existing network within the Asia-Pacific region. This Partnership, the first of its kind for Europcar, provides considerable synergies for both parties in the corporate and leisure markets and should contribute significantly to Europcar’s aggressive and ongoing development strategy in the region. Best practice transfer from Europe’s leading Car Rental Company to Mazda Car Rental will be a deciding factor in our new relationship for the benefit of the customer on both sides.”
Mr. Uenishi, CEO of Mazda Car Rental said: “The partnership with Europcar, the leading European car rental company, will be an epoch in our history. This tie-up can bring the improvement of service to our customer as well as the expansion of our business. I have no doubt that it will be a large step toward the realization of corporate idea, “Driving is everything!”
A subsidiary of the French investment company Eurazeo, Europcar is the leading European car rental firm. The Europcar network includes more than 2,900 rental agencies in over 147 countries. In 2005 with an average fleet of more than 220,000 rental cars and vans and with close to seven million hire contracts, Europcar had revenues of EUR1.28 billion, up nine per cent versus 2004. The Group has 5,200 employees.
Mazda Car Rental Company, a private company and ex-subsidiary of Mazda Motors Corporation, is a leading Japanese car rental company, operating a fleet of 19,000 vehicles from 340 rental locations throughout Japan. The company has 1,142 employees. In 2005 MRC launched an innovative car sharing scheme, a first amongst major car rental companies in Japan.