Sixt is shifting up a gear!
The German car rental company wants to buy up to 250,000 vehicles for its rental car fleet from the manufacturer Stellantis over the next three years. The cars are intended to roll on the streets primarily in Europe and North America. The elephant wedding agreement “comprises a total value of several billion euros,” Sixt announced on Tuesday in Pullach near Munich.
What are the details of the rental car hammer?
▶ “First deliveries on a significant scale” should take place by the end of March. Co-CEO Konstantin Sixt said the Stellantis deal would allow the company to accelerate its growth strategy.
Alexander and Konstantin Sixt (right) run the company of the same name, here at the “The Golden Steering Wheel” award ceremony by AUTO BILD and BILD am SONNTAG in November 2023
“We do not plan to buy Stellantis vehicles as an alternative, but rather as a complement to vehicles from other manufacturers,” emphasized a company spokesman. The fleet still consists of many vehicles from other manufacturers – with a high proportion of the German premium companies BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
The Stellantis Group (annual sales in 2022 around 180 billion euros) is based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. The fifth largest car manufacturer in the world includes Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat, Maserati, Chrysler and Opel. Stellantis’ German business is also controlled from the Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim (Hesse).
A Stellantis employee assembles an electric drive. The company, based in the Netherlands, is the fifth largest car manufacturer in the world
The industry heavyweight Sixt will primarily supply city cars, SUVs and vans with all types of drive. Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares – who has more than 40 years of automotive experience – said the rental cars would allow customers to experience the carmaker’s latest models.
Last fall, Sixt’s rental car fleet consisted of around 190,000 vehicles. The average holding period was well under a year – for Stellantis vehicles it should be between seven and eight months, said a spokesman. In the large van segment it could even be up to 18 months. After expiration, Stellantis will buy back the vast majority of the vehicles.