Enterprise Expands into the Netherlands in European Expansion Drive

LONDON, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has appointed SharingMatters BV to develop an Enterprise-branded rental business in the Netherlands. This forms part of Enterprise's ongoing European growth strategy.

The company will establish a presence across the major Dutch airports, with the first expected to be open at the start of September.  This will be followed by the country's major train stations soon after. The aim is to deliver a network of rental locations across the Netherlands at major transport and city hubs to serve the increasing demands of inbound leisure and business travellers.

The appointment of SharingMatters marks another step in Enterprise's expansion programme across Europe, aimed at offering greater choice to global travellers looking for high calibre, service-focused rental. With this latest move, Enterprise continues to extend its reach ever closer to a network representing 100 per cent of European car rental demand.

As the newest player in the Dutch car hire sector, SharingMatters was established by a management team led by Thomas Wolters.  With long and deep experience of car rental and the needs and expectations of international and domestic renters, SharingMatters brings together some of the most talented rental experts with an impressive record of success. The company aims to target a mobility market worth over €1 billion per year.

The Netherlands is one of Europe's strongest economies with a population that is just under 17 million, home to a large base of multinational corporations as well as a prosperous domestic population.

Peter A. Smith, vice president of global franchising, Enterprise, said: "We are delighted to welcome SharingMatters to the growing network of Enterprise-branded businesses across Europe. This is a young company with deep roots in the Dutch car hire and car sharing sector, and the drive to build a business that will offer a real difference to inbound leisure and business customers."

Thomas Wolters, Director of SharingMatters BV, said: 'Joining the Enterprise network is a major achievement for SharingMatters and the perfect step to service the exacting international customer as well as the highly competitive Dutch market. We are pleased to be part of Enterprise's growing presence across Europe and to play our part in the worldwide expansion of a remarkable mobility provider.

"Enterprise is already by far the biggest supplier of car rental and sharing products in the world and its focus on serving the needs of each individual customer and each neighborhood, one by one, has remained as strong as when it was a start-up. We very much share this focus and hope to bring outstanding service to car rental customers in the Netherlands.'

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is part of St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings, the largest car rental service provider in the world. Enterprise operates wholly-owned operations across the UK, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, the United States and Canada, with over 7000 offices and almost 75,000 employees worldwide.

Enterprise also has rapidly expanding operations at airports and transport hubs across the globe through franchise and partnership agreements with independent local providers. This includes Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, Brazil and China.

Enterprise Holdings also operates the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands in the Americas, and together with its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management, offers a total transportation solution. Combined, Enterprise Holdings and Enterprise Fleet Management - which includes extensive car rental and car sharing services, commercial truck rental, corporate fleet management, and retail car sales - accounted for $15.4 billion in revenue and operated 1.3 million vehicles throughout the world in fiscal 2012. Operating through its regional subsidiaries, Enterprise Holdings is the largest car rental company in the world as measured by revenue, fleet, and employees.  Enterprise Holdings' annual revenues also place it near the top of the travel industry, exceeding all other rental car companies, and most airlines, cruise lines, hotels, tour operators and online travel agencies.

[This news release and other Enterprise Rent-A-Car announcements are available at the Enterprise Holdings press room]