Avis Europe plc is a United Kingdom-based company which holds the licence to operate the two main

vehicle rental A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

brands of

Avis Budget Group Avis Budget Group is American car rental agency holding company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is the parent company of several brands including Avis Car Rental, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, Payless Car Rental and Zipca ...

(

Avis Rent a Car System Avis Car Rental is an American car rental company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. Avis, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental and Zipcar are all units of Avis Budget Group. Avis Budget Group operates the Avis brand in South Afric ...

and

Budget Rent a Car Budget Rent a Car is an American car rental company that was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, California by Morris Mirkin. Budget is a subsidiary of the Avis Budget Group, with its operations headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. History ...

) in

Europe, the Middle East and Africa EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

as well as Asia in the case of Avis. In 2011 it was acquired by

History

The company was an operating division of Avis Rent a Car until 1986, when it was

spun out ''Spun Out'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Jeff Biederman, Brent Piaskoski and Brian K. Roberts for CTV. It premiered on March 6, 2014 and ended on October 3, 2015, with a total of 26 episodes over the course of 2 seasons. Premise T ...

and listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

. The firm was then acquired by a consortium of Avis Group, General Motors and

D'Ieteren D'Ieteren SA () is a company, based in Belgium that is engaged in automobile distribution and vehicle glass repair and replacement (VGRR). Activities D'Ieteren is a group of services to the motorist, founded in 1805. D'Ieteren Auto distribu ...

in 1989 before being listed on the LSE once more in 1997. While Avis and GM have sold their stakes in Avis Europe, D'Ieteren continued to hold a controlling 59.6% stake in the firm. In 2003, shortly after Budget was acquired by Avis's then-parent

Cendant Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

, Avis Europe also took over the rights to that brand in its operating regions (except Asia). In October 2011, Avis Europe was re-acquired by the brand's current parent company,

, for US$1 billion.Avis Budget buys Avis Europe for $1 billion
AP, 3 October 2011

Senior management

Operations

The group's Avis-branded operations comprise over 2,900 offices in 112 countries across

EMEA EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

and Asia. Of these,

franchisee Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

s operate by licence in 99 nations, while Avis Europe has directly owned and operated subsidiaries in the remaining thirteen (mostly in Western Europe). The group has Budget-branded operations at over 900 sites in 66 countries across EMEA (

operates Budget in Asia). All of these are franchised except for those in Austria, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom.

References

External links

Official WebsiteLuxury Car HiringLKW Rent WebsiteHumble Hire
{{Vehicle rental brands Car rental companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1986 Transport companies established in 1986 Companies based in Bracknell Avis Budget Group