On the left, Michael Shu, Managing Director and Managing Director of BYD Europe and International Cooperation Division; on the right, Vinzenz Pflanz, commercial director responsible for vehicle sales and purchasing, Sixt. © BYD
Big publicity stunt for BYD, which will make its first official appearance at the next Paris Motor Show, from October 17, 2022. The Chinese car manufacturer – which plans to launch three electric models in Europe – announces the signing of a long-term agreement with the German rental company Sixt.
BYD has committed to supplying 100,000 electric vehicles to Sixt over the next six years. The first models are expected during the 4th quarter of 2022, that of the launch of BYD in Europe; unless the shortage of semiconductors comes to thwart this delivery.
As for the model chosen, it is the small electric SUV Atto 3, based on an in-house platform (e-platform 3.0) and using an 800 V electric architecture. The Atto 3 has a 152 kW (206 hp) electric motor ), powered by a 60.5 kWh battery. The announced autonomy is 420 km (WLTP cycles). Its price on the public market will be €38,000.
The BYD Atto 3 are mainly intended for the French, German, Dutch and English markets. On the other hand, neither BYD nor Sixt have indicated when the other electric models of the Chinese manufacturer (the Han sedan and the large SUV Tang) will be offered for rental. Moreover, the rental price is not yet known.
Sixt, which has 2,100 rental agencies around the world, aims to electrify between 70 and 90% of its fleet by 2030. It is with this in mind that the German rental company plans to acquire Tesla electric vehicles, Audi, BMW, Opel, Renault and Peugeot.
Hertz Corse, the precursor
Sixt is not the first lessor to seek to electrify its fleet. We remember that in May 2020, the American rental company Hertz, in particular its agency in Corsica, caused a sensation with the purchase of 500 Aiways U5, an electric SUV. The Corsican subsidiary of Hertz thus became the first European customer of the electric car manufacturer.
Hertz had also made headlines with the order for 100,000 Tesla by the end of 2022, which Elon Musk himself was surprised by stating that no purchase order had been signed.
Hertz, which plans to electrify nearly its entire fleet of 500,000 cars and vans, has signed on to acquire 65,000 Polestar-branded vehicles over 5 years and 175,000 models from the General Motors (GM) group.