Europcar hopes to dissuade urban residents from individual car ownership through its Urban Mobility Business Unit. Founded as a rental car company in Paris in 1949, Europcar now runs operations in 140 countries. It has embarked on a growth and diversification strategy aptly named SHIFT 2023, which details its roadmap for further profitable expansion. The Urban Mobility Unit is fuelled by the acquisition and development of start-up Ubeeqo, a specialist of corporate ridesharing and mobility solutions. Individual urban cars typically spend over 90 percent of their time parked, but Europcar’s elegant solution enables multimodality of its auto assets while offering consumers an attractive alternative to ownership. The BV judging panel applauds the closed-loop business model and presents Europcar with the 2019 Best Urban Mobility Solutions (Europe) award.
