Nissan and Europcar announced today that Nissan LEAF, the award-winning 100% electric car, will be available to hire on short term rental in two of the busiest capital cities in the world: Paris and London. From February, the 2011 World and European Car of The Year will be available for hire bringing the LEAF to a wider audience.
“There are two distinct reasons for joining forces with Europcar to introduce Nissan LEAF to the short term rental market in these two busy cities,” said Guillaume Cartier, Vice President for Sales Operations at Nissan International SA. “The first is obvious: with its absence of tailpipe emissions and an outstanding driving pleasure, the Nissan LEAF is the perfect car for the inner city. The second is for drivers currently unsure whether an EV is suitable for their needs. By renting a Nissan LEAF and living with it in real world conditions they can evaluate the car in their own time,” he added.
The Nissan LEAF has a homologated range of 175km which is more than 90% of European drive in a day.
“Europcar has long believed in electric vehicles as a sustainable means of mobility and is committed to enabling early adoption of this type of vehicles. We are proud to partner with Nissan to facilitate expansion of electric vehicles and provide our customers with the greenest possible mobility solutions” said Rafael Girona, Chief Operating Officer of Europcar.
While Nissan LEAF is as easy to drive as a conventional car, every customer renting a LEAF will be given a face-to-face handover by a Nissan-trained Europcar representative fully conversant with the car and its workings. In order to make its customer’ life even easier Europcar will take care of recharging the cars and will invoice neither the electricity used to recharging the cars after the rentals nor any service fee as it exists for conventional Diesel or Petrol vehicles.
For total peace of mind, a Nissan Hotline exists for customers to call with any query. At the end of the rental period every customer will be surveyed by Europcar with feedback used to help shape future generations of Nissan EV.
The pilot scheme – which is initially to run for three months – takes the form of a Definitive Agreement between the two companies, and follows a Memorandum of Understanding in which both undertook to investigate ways of jointly promoting the concept of emission-free motoring. The scheme could be widened to other cities in France and England and to other countries in Europe.
About Nissan in Europe
Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 12,500 staff across locally-based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations. Last year Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced more than 528,000 vehicles including mini-MPVs, award-winning crossovers, SUVs and commercial vehicles. Nissan now offers 24 diverse and innovative products for sale in Europe today, and is positioned to become the number one Asian brand in Europe.
About Europcar
Europcar is the leader in car rental services in Europe. Present in 150 countries, the company provides customers with access to the world’s largest vehicle rental network through its own operations, franchisees and partnerships. Through Europcar’s portfolio of brands, the company and its franchisees generated more than €3 billion in revenue in 2010, including nearly €2 billion in consolidated revenue. With 6,500 employees committed to delivering customer satisfaction and an average fleet of close to 200,000 vehicles, Europcar is conscious of its corporate citizenship responsibilities. Winner of the first World Travel Award recognizing the World’s Leading Green Transport Solutions Company, Europcar also was honored with the Award in 2010 and 2011. Europcar is owned by Eurazeo.
