By Michael Elkins
SIXT (BS:SIX2d), an international rental car company headquartered in Germany, announced Tuesday the intention to purchase more than 100,000 electric vehicles from Chinese EV maker BYD (OTC:BYDDY) for its European fleet over the next six years. Starting for customers in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK, SIXT will be the first car rental company in Europe to offer BYD’s vehicles.
The order from BYD fits in SIXT’s recently announced promise to significantly increase the share of electrified vehicles in its fleet and boost excitement for eMobility. The European fleet will be 70 to 90 percent electrified by 2030, covering a wide range of manufacturers and models. This is an integral part of SIXT’s strategy to lead the mobility sector into a sustainable future.
Michael Shu, General Manager and Managing Director, BYD Europe and International Cooperation Division commented: “Cooperations are a core part of the BYD business strategy. We are delighted to start our cooperation with SIXT, the car rental company with the world’s fastest-growing brand value, and a very important key partner to BYD as we take our first steps into the rental market. Our shared vision allows us to build our green dreams together, initially starting in Europe. We aim to inspire SIXT customers with our latest products and innovations in EV technology. These are exciting times for BYD, as our market leading solutions provide greater access, and more options for electric mobility. We look forward to a long and flourishing partnership with SIXT.”
Vinzenz Pflanz, Chief Business Officer at SIXT commented on the agreement, saying “The agreement with BYD is an important milestone to deliver on our promise of putting significantly more e-cars onto the street. We are very much looking forward to our cooperation with BYD.”
The rental company is also establishing its own charging infrastructure and will expand the SIXT App and the ONE mobility platform to a single sign-on for hundreds of thousands of public charging points and will switch its stations and branches to CO2 neutrality by the end of 2023.