Car rental company Sixt announced that it would purchase 100,000 electric vehicles from Chinese Automaker BYD. The purchases will be made from now to 2018. Initially, Sixt has committed to buy several thousand EVs. These will be delivered by this year.
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Sixt said it would first deploy its new BYDs to Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the U.K. in the fourth quarter of 2022. The agreement comes to a couple of weeks after competitor Hertz announced plans to order up to 175,000 General Motors EVs over the next five years. Hertz has also signed deals to buy thousands of Polestar and Tesla vehicles in order to reach its goal of a 25% EV fleet by the end of 2024.
Sixt’s deal with BYD is in service of its own sustainability goal, the German car rental giant hopes to electrify 70% to 90% of its fleet in Europe by 2030. By the end of 2022, Sixt has promised to offer 20 new electric and plug-in models, “including a range of Audi, Opel, Renault, BMW, Peugeot, Tesla and now BYD,” according to a Sixt spokesperson.
European roads
Under the first stage of the agreement, Sixt will order several thousand full-electric vehicles from BYD, the first of which will be available to Sixt customers in Europe in the fourth quarter, the German car rental company said in a statement. On BYD’s end, the partnership with Sixt is the company’s first with a car rental firm in Europe. The Chinese automaker has, over the past couple of years, made a concerted push into Europe, beginning with the launch of the Tang electric SUV in Norway in 2020. Last week, BYD shared presale pricing for three EV models it will sell in Europe: the Han sedan and the Tang, each for €72,000, and the Atto 3 SUV for €38,000. It’s the last one, the Atto, that Sixt will initially be buying, according to both companies.
In addition, BYD and Sixt have agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in various regions of the world, according to the statement. Sixt said it will become Europe’s first car rental company to offer BYD vehicles, with the first model to be the BYD ATTO 3, an electric SUV in the C segment. Sixt said it will become Europe’s first car rental company to offer BYD vehicles. The first model to be offered will be the BYD Atto, an electric compact SUV. The deal is a boost for BYD, which seeking to fast establish a foothold in Europe. The automaker has signed up three European auto retail groups for its expansion in the region.
