Car manufacturer Volkswagen has confirmed its intention to acquire car rental company Europcar. The German group works together with the Dutch car importer Pon, financial news agency Bloomberg reported earlier. France’s Europcar recently rejected a €2.2 billion takeover bid.
Volkswagen now declares that the possible purchase of Europcar could be attractive. In the future, the company wants to make Volkswagens, Audis, Porsches or Skodas, and earn money with mobility services.
With the incorporation of a car rental company, Volkswagen would, among other things, get technology and infrastructure that help with this. It is still far from certain whether a takeover deal will be reached between the consortium of Volkswagen and Europcar.
Europcar ran into financial difficulties earlier this year. Creditors cancelled more than 1 billion euros in debt at the beginning of this year and got their hands on the company in return. Car rental companies suffered greatly from the corona crisis in 2020 because they depend primarily on tourists who rent a car on holiday. International travel was virtually impossible without urgent reason during the corona crisis.
Volkswagen previously owned Europcar. The car manufacturer sold the rental company to investor Eurazeo in 2006.