Free2move and Trust Motors Group Reinforce their Position in Romanian Rental Market
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Free2move and Trust Motors Group signed a strategic partnership agreement, bringing Free2move's brand and mobility services to Romania
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Operations include services as short, medium or long-term rent with potential expansion to other activities such as car-sharing and car subscription
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The partnership is part of a strategic expansion plan to bring Free2move to new European markets
Paris, July 26, 2023 - Starting in late 2022, Free2move's growth project in the markets of south-eastern Europe was gradually accelerated, with an actual increase and a strong push of operational activities in spring 2023.
A thorough study of the reality of the market made it possible to unveil important business opportunities thanks to synergies with the importers of the Stellantis brands present in the different countries of the area: Slovenia, Greece, Romania, these are the first markets on which Free2move began to build solid foundations.
Free2Move Rent will be active in Romania exclusively through IMAG as part of Trust Motors Group
Importer in Romania for Peugeot, Citroen, DS Automobile and Opel with more than 30 years of experience in sales and aftersales and more than 131,000 cars sold, Trust Motors dealer network covers 29 top cities in Romania (93% of market sales).
The Group’s activity is structured on import & retail activity, full logistic services and automotive related activities, with an annual turnover of 244 million euros.
Thanks to the agreement signed with Free2move, business development will take place both through a partnership with sub-licensing for B2B and B2C activities, and through its own branches in the top five Romanian airports, focused on B2C activities.
“Starting with April we have opened each month new offices across Romania dedicated to rent-a-car operations: Bucharest Henri Coanda, Cluj, Timisoara airports and in July we have opened the latest one (Brasov). This clearly shows our commitment to invest relevant resources in this new business line of Trust Motors Group.
IMAG aims to reach top 5 main mobility players in Romania by providing short and long term solutions to our customers: from rent-a-car to full service operational lease contracts. And this will happen before 2028 as all our teams work on this direction.
We are happy that our customers really value our mobile platform and our new fleet of rent-a-car vehicles. It’s a nice feeling to rent a Peugeot, Citroen or Opel and to discover that you are the first driver or the car is almost new and has a very low mileage. For sure we want to keep this good habit as all our cars will be renewed every 6 months with new models launched by Stellantis” said Catalin Olteanu, Executive Director of IMAG.
The targeted customers for Free2Move Rent in Romania are represented by the distribution network managed by Trust Motors, local and multinational companies, leasing companies, specially for replacement car and short term contracts, foreign tourists and business travel and last but not least, Romanian employees working abroad that visit their relatives for Christmas, Easter or summer holidays.
An important growth of Free2move’s operations across Europe
In the rental market, Free2move already has more than 450,000 rental cars available in Europe. This wave of growth across Europe proves that demand for new vehicle access options is high, and Free2move is dedicated to creating innovative services for this strategic market with plans around the world by 2030.
By the end of 2030, Free2move plans to become the world mobility reference, with new dealership programs that offer these businesses a variety of revenue streams thanks to Free2move rent, carsharing and subscription services. Each dealership that signs on gets the added benefit of Free2move fleet management tools and dedicated support from the Free2move team.
"We are proud of our achievement and are committed to continuing to provide our users with the best mobility experience possible all over the world. Demand for flexibility has never been higher. In our mobility ecosystem, we cover the entire spectrum, from car rental, to car-sharing to subscription, our customer insights shows that the rent and car sharing activities have been very dynamic during the last year. Our success shows that we are sustainably meeting the diverse mobility needs of our customers worldwide. We look forward to continuing to grow and to help shape the future of sustainable mobility," said Brigitte Courtehoux, CEO of Free2move.
About Free2move
Free2move is the only global mobility brand offering a complete and unique ecosystem for its private and professional customers around the world. Relying on data and technology, Free2move puts the customer experience at the heart of the business to reinvent mobility. Following a mobility marketplace approach, Free2move offers a range of services to satisfy the multiple travel needs of its customers - from one minute to several days or months with car-sharing, short, medium or long-term rental as well as parking spaces via one app. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and is part of the multinational Stellantis Group. Free2move in figures: more than 6 million customers, 450,000 rental vehicles, 500,000 parking spaces.
Media contacts:
Judith Duschl
j.duschl@open2europe.com
Open2Europe PR Agency
Patrick Dillenberger
Head of Communications Free2move & SHARE NOW
patrick.dillenberger@share-now.com