Car rental company Sixt said on Tuesday it plans to buy more than 100,000 electric vehicles from Chinese automaker BYD for its European fleet by 2028. Sixt initially only committed to buying “several thousand” of electric vehicles, the first of which will be delivered this year, the company said in a statement.
Sixt has announced that it will first roll out its new BYDs in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The deal comes weeks after competitor Hertz announced plans to order up to 175,000 General Motors electric vehicles over the next five years. Hertz has also signed deals to buy thousands of Polestar and Tesla vehicles to meet its goal of a 25% electric vehicle fleet by the end of 2024.
Sixt’s deal with BYD serves 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 vehicles and plug-in models, “including a range from Audi, Opel, Renault, BMW, Peugeot, Tesla and now BYD”, according to a Sixt spokesperson.
On BYD’s side, the partnership with Sixt is the company’s first with a car rental company in Europe. The Chinese automaker has, over the past two years, made a concerted push into Europe, starting with the launch of the Tang electric SUV in Norway in 2020. Last week, BYD shared pre-sale prices for three vehicle models electric vehicles that it will sell in Europe: the Han sedan and the Tang, each at €72,000, and the Atto 3 SUV at €38,000. It is the last, the Atto, that Sixt will buy first, according to the two companies.
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