short-term car rental (car rental) is one of the activities that has been positively affected by the boom in tourist arrivals. But long-term car rentals (leasing) are also on the rise due to inflation and supply chain problems that have pushed up the price of new cars. Against this backdrop, mobility within and outside of Greece in car rental is accompanied by mergers and new investments.

The most recent includes the completion of the €4.9 billion acquisition of Dutch multinational Leaseplan by French ALD Automotive. The transaction results in the merger of two leasing and fleet management companies operating in Greece, with the position of Managing Director in a new structure (ALD Automotive-Arenda), which will be occupied by the previous CEO of Leaseplan Kostas Petroutsos. And while the merger will not bring any changes for the clients of the two companies, it remains to be seen how it will affect the existing balance sheets in the first phase in the Greek leasing market, where Avis And Autohellas/Hertz have the largest share. Globally, this new group, which manages 3.31 million vehicles, is starting new investments in electrified vehicles, with ALD aiming to have 50% of its fleet electric by 2030. “green”.

Increasing business demand for long-term car rentals, which goes hand in hand with forecasts of Greek GDP growth, coupled with the shift of individuals to leasing with flexible terms, dictates the actions of market players. sector. It is no coincidence that Avis, Autohellas-Hertz and Sfakianakis have created flexible car rental services (easy leasing, flex drive, quick flex).

The Greek market has good prospects due to limited leasing penetration, which is less than 50%, while in Europe it exceeds 80%, according to Andreas Tarantzis, who was elected president of the Association of Travel Car Rental Companies a few days ago. Greece. In addition, Autohellas-Hertz is launching a €300 million investment over the next five years to purchase zero and low emission vehicles, as well as building the necessary support and charging infrastructure across its network. Accordingly, Avis is starting to invest $400 million to upgrade its electric vehicle fleet. A few months ago, the tech company that offers monthly subscription rental services raised 55 million euros in a funding round involving Autohellas, Ellikonos 2 Foundation, Olympia Group and Velocity.Partners. Instacar’s goal is to increase its fleet to 5,000 and also expand overseas.

Movements by industry players also include the completion of the 100% acquisition of Lion Rental by Motodinamiki – which has owned 80.5% since December 2018 – which controls Sixt.