Europcar announces new management in Germany

Europcar, Europe’s leading car rental company, announced today the appointment of Roland Keppler as Chairman of the Executive Board of its German unit, Europcar Autovermietung GmbH (europcar.de). He succeeds Philippe Guyot, who held the position for more than 12 years and is leaving the company to pursue other interests. The appointment takes effect on March 1, 2009.

Roland Keppler joins Europcar from Hapag-Lloyd Flug GmbH (TUIfly), where he was Chairman of the Executive Board. TUIfly is Germany’s third largest airline after Lufthansa and Air Berlin, carrying more than 12.5 million passengers per year and serving 80 destinations in 17 countries.

Under the leadership of Philippe Guyot, the German subsidiary has become Europcar’s largest, accounting for approximately 28% of the group’s total revenues; Established in 1927, the German company today has 1,600 employees and over 500 locations across the country (http://www.europcar.de/stationenuebersicht/index.html). Numerous awards such as the Business Traveller Award “Best Car Rental Company in Germany” (2006, 2007, 2008) the World Travel Award “World’s Leading Leisure Car Rental Company (2007, 2008) as well as “World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company”, an award which was granted for the first time in 2008, are proof of the high quality of service as well as the commitment to sustainability of Europcar.

“We thank Philippe Guyot for his long-time commitment and successful operating of Europcar Germany”, said Salvatore Catania, Chief Executive Officer of the Europcar group. “And we are delighted to welcome Roland Keppler to our team. His extensive experience in the Travel industry will prove invaluable in the continuing progress of Europcar in Germany, which is our key European market.”

Roland Keppler is 44 years old. Chief Executive Officer of TUIfly between September 2007 and January 2009, he was also Chief Executive Officer of TUI interactive and TUI Deutschland’s Head of Airlines & New Media since March 2007. Chief Financial Officer for Hapag Lloyd Express (HLX GmbH) from 2002 he had been appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2005.

About Europcar
Owned by the French investment company Eurazeo, Europcar is the European leader in passenger car and light utility vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Excluding franchise operations, in 2007 Europcar signed more than 10 million rental contracts, with 7,700 employees and a fleet exceeding 215,000 vehicles. In September 2008, Europcar and U.S. market leader Enterprise Rent a Car joined forces in a strategic alliance to form the world’s largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world. For more information: www.europcar.com

Lorie Lichtlen / Sanaa Nadir
Burson-Marsteller Paris
Tel. +33 (0)1 41 86 76 76
lorie.lichtlen@bm.com / sanaa.nadir@bm.com

This release was published on openPR.