Zipcar, Inc., the car sharing network, has announced its final integration of Spain’s largest car sharing service, the Barcelona-based Avancar. The service will operate as ‘Avancar, a Zipcar company’ and Zipcar says this is a key step in its expansion in Europe, which to date also includes services in the UK and Austria.
The integration of Avancar coincides with the launch of Zipcar’s new global technology platform, designed to support multi-language capabilities and enhance scalability to improve speed to market with future international expansion.
The Avancar integration included conversion of the entire fleet in Barcelona from the legacy Avancar platform onto the Zipcar network. Zipcar accounts were established for all consumer and business Avancar members and the end-to-end ‘Zipcar experience’ is now offered in both Catalan and Spanish. Vehicles in Barcelona are now available for reservation by all Zipcar members, with rates starting from €4 (US$5.22) per hour and €45 per day, including insurance, gas, and 20km of driving per 24 hours.
Zipcar purchased a majority stake in the Barcelona-based Catalunya Carsharing S.A., known as Avancar, in February 2012, following an initial equity investment in December 2009. Avancar was the first car sharing operator in Spain, and has been operating in Barcelona since 2005.
