Imperial Car Rental rebrands to Europcar

Europcar SA CEO Dawn Nathan-Jones; Osman Arbee, chairman: car rental and tourism division, and executive director of Imperial Holdings; and Hubert Brody, CEO of Imperial Holdings are planning on making an international brand Proudly South African in their dream of taking on the world.

Europcar SA rolled out the green grass carpet for the guests. The grass is being donated as part of a CSI initiative to green a school's playground.

Today the company has a fleet of 15 000 rental vehicles, a network of 120 branches and virtually a third of the SA car rental market. The global network, through various alliances, consists of 3000 locations in 160 countries.

A three-year investment of R100 million is being spent on the changeover, covering staff development, technology, IT systems, external communication and the transformation of the company's infrastructure.

As part of its green branding, the company is also committed to establishing a new Green Charter, which, like its mints, is fresh and sums up the company's green branding.

The rebranding event was held in a hangar at Lanseria International Airport in Gauteng, with Gerry Rantseli as MC and prominent political commentator and journalist Justice Malala as keynote speaker. The first of the Europcar-branded Kulula planes was hidden behind a white drop before being revealed to the audience consisting of the travel and tourist industry and top corporate clients and suppliers.

All in all, three Kulula aircraft will eventually be liveried in Europcar branding, which has been made possible through the car rental company's long-term partnership with Comair.

Thirty years of brand equity

Moving from a trusted and well-respected company name with 30 years of valuable brand equity would be considered, by most, as a brave thing to do, putting it mildly. Osman Arbee, chairman: car rental and tourism division and executive director of Imperial Holdings, stressed, “South Africa is no longer an island at the tip of Africa. So while Imperial Car Rental has undoubtedly performed well in our local market over the past three decades, our vision for future growth over the next decade made it necessary to have a globally unified image.

“We will become a global player in name only, not in ownership. Europcar SA will continue to be 100% owned and managed by Imperial Holdings Limited. We look upon this partnership as a South African business using an internationally recognised brand to bring a global service to our customers.”

Arbee continued, “Partnering an international car rental brand was fundamental to the future success of our business. As such, we considered many international franchise options. An influencing factor was our already successful relationship with Europcar International and the fact they are the number one car rental brand in Europe, Australasia, Middle East and Africa and one of the top three car rental companies in the world.

“In addition, they have acquired Vanguard EMEA, which operates the National and Alamo car rental brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They have also strengthened their leadership position through an international alliance with Enterprise in the United States, the largest car rental company in the world.”

Global brand recognition

Said CEO Dawn Nathan-Jones, who has been with the company since the beginning in 1979, “The global brand recognition, credibility and opportunities Europcar has brought to the local operation, so far, confirm we made a good decision and chose the right franchise partner.”

In 1979, the fledgling business started out with nine cars; today, 30 years on, it has a fleet of 15 000 rental vehicles, a network of 120 branches and reports a 32% share of the South African car rental market. Prior to the merger of the two businesses, Europcar operated in South Africa and focused on the in-bound leisure market, while Imperial Car Rental concentrated on the domestic corporate and leisure market. While both companies performed well in their respective areas, the opportunity for growth was limited, making the strategic decision to merge an attractive one. In May 2007, the brands officially came together, with the ultimate goal of repositioning the business under the single brand of Europcar, especially in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Flagship branch

The first flagship branch and changeover to Europcar's global look and feel was unveiled in March 2009 at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The other branches will follow as part of the ACSA 2010 rollout strategy across all its airports. Modeled on its global counterparts, Nathan-Jones described it as a benchmark for all car rental kiosks.

“As different customers have different needs, we try to accommodate all of them. Corporate customers want to get in and out as quickly as possible, so our expedient ‘Ready' service caters for them. International leisure travellers are not as rushed, wanting to source tourist information, which our Internet, WIFI and refreshment facilities cater for.”

The company operated under a dual brand for almost two years while getting ready for the final transition to Europcar. A three-year investment of R100 million is being spent on the changeover, covering staff development, technology, IT systems, external communication and the transformation of the company's infrastructure.

As part of its green branding, Europcar SA's management team is also committed to establishing a new Green Charter, with various initiatives. A new print technology was recently introduced to reach its goal of a 50% reduction in paper consumption, and a carbon offset programme is underway. This will allow Europcar's customers to contribute to the UK Carbon Trust. Europcar in France has already won the Oxygen Award, on two occasions, for its environmental efforts.

According to Nathan-Jones, the company has an optimistic five-year forecast, especially given the country's hosting of some of the world's premier sporting events, from cricket to rugby and football.