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The transition of Imperial Car Rental to Europcar South Africa now makes it part of the world’s largest car rental network.
Moving from a trusted and well respected company name with so many years of valuable brand equity is a brave thing to do. Chairman: Car Rental and Tourism division and Executive director of Imperial Holdings, Osman Arbee explains:
“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 30 years, 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,” he adds. “We look upon this partnership as a South African business using an internationally recognised brand to bring a global service to our customers.”
Arbee continues: “The choice of an international brand partner was fundamental to the future success of our business. As such, we considered many international franchise options. Influencing factors included our already successful relationship with Europcar International over many years 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; in addition they have strengthened their leadership position through an international alliance with Enterprise in the United States, the largest car rental company in the world.”
As the iconic green Europcar replaces the blue Imperial Car Rental sign, there is a feeling of excitement within the company, and especially for CEO of Imperial Car Rental - Europcar Dawn Nathan-Jones who has been with the company since the beginning. The fledgling business started out in 1979 with a fleet of nine cars and 30 years later, has grown to a 32% share of the South African car rental market, with a network of 120 branches and a fleet of 15 000 rental vehicles in Southern Africa.
Says Nathan-Jones, “The global brand recognition, credibility and opportunity to align ourselves with Europcar’s global partners further confirmed that we’ve chosen the ideal franchise partner to benefit our local customers.”
Prior to the merger of the two businesses, Europcar operated in South Africa and focussed on the in-bound leisure market, whilst Imperial Car Rental concentrated on the domestic corporate and leisure market. While both companies performed extremely 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 a single brand of Europcar.
“As a country, we believe that South Africa is well poised to fully capitalize on the influx of tourists visiting our country. With the massive improvement to our infrastructure, South Africa has unprecedented opportunity to position itself as a must-see tourist destination. We are extremely satisfied that the timing of the new Europcar brand coincides with the country’s imminent hosting of some of the world’s premier sporting events,” says Nathan-Jones
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. Modeled on its global counterparts, Nathan-Jones describes it as a new worldwide benchmark for car rental and serves as a model for the other airports that are to follow soon.
“As different customers have different needs, we try to ensure we accommodate all of them. Corporate customers, for instance, want to get in and out as quickly as possible, so our Ready service caters precisely for that, while international leisure travellers would perhaps not be so rushed while sourcing useful information on locations in South Africa, which our Internet, WIFI and refreshment facilities cater for”.
Nathan-Jones is very positive about the future. She says their five-year forecast is optimistic. “The window of opportunities to take advantage of and capitalise on the growth in tourism beyond 2010, further solidifies the decision taken to change to Europcar.
“Becoming Europcar SA has been the catalyst for internal change and has given us a positive reason to revive, refresh and improve all that we do, which translates to a better than ever service offering and experience for our customers.” says Nathan-Jones.
“What will never change is the personal and professional service that customers have come to know and expect. Through our high performance culture, we are determined now more than ever to be recognised as the benchmark in customer service delivery in South Africa and abroad.”
To mark the final stage of the brand changeover, an aggressive communication strategy has just been launched across Southern Africa. Its objective is to introduce the new Europcar brand with its global reach, but still positioning it in the same proudly South African space that the Imperial Car Rental brand was renowned for over the past three decades. The campaign covers all classical mediums but their most extraordinary innovation will take to the skies in the form of a number of Europcar-branded Kulula aircraft, which is made possible through their long-term partner, Comair Limited.
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