Amsterdam (awp / afp) – Europcar announced on Tuesday a rebound in its turnover in 2021 and a small profit, in particular thanks to strong demand during the summer.
The car rental group achieved a turnover of 2.3 billion euros (+28.1%) and posted a net profit of 10 million euros, after heavy losses in 2020, indicated the group in a press release.
Its takeover by a consortium led by Volkswagen could finally take place in the second quarter of 2022, instead of the first. “The negotiations with the European antitrust are progressing well but are quite slow,” explained the group’s general manager, Caroline Parot, to journalists.
The group saw demand pick up strongly in the summer of 2021, “in a context where car offers were quite limited”, which caused rental prices to increase by 11% on average over the year, indicated Caroline Parrot.
The group did not give forecasts for 2022 because of a “context of volumes still limited by the shortage of vehicles, an increase in the cost base (fleet and global inflation) and the difficulty in estimating the global impact of the Ukrainian conflict”.
Europcar, however, says it is “on the right track” in the deployment of its strategic roadmap, which will accelerate in 2022 “with a focus on the digitalization of the customer experience and operations”.
The group, which must order its new vehicles for the summer season, finds itself faced with a strong “volatility of demand”, with few intercontinental visitors and fewer professionals with telework. The fleet has already risen to 262,300 cars at the end of 2021, after a low in 2020.
afp/rp