Although Europcar is traditionally known as a leisure brand, it has spent the past 18 months laying the foundations to become a key player in the resources industry – opening mine-specific branches, strengthening its fleet of mine-ready vehicles and appointing a team of experts to drive Europcar’s commercial expansion.

Fred Lawrence, Europcar’s commercial development manager for Western Australia, said recent industry trends presented an opportunity for Europcar to service the resources industry.

“The mining procurement market is an evolving one – with economic changes, there is more emphasis on adding value and safety requirements for light vehicle supply,” Lawrence said.

According to Lawrence, Europcar is well equipped to meet clients’ safety needs, thanks to its new and modern fleet.

“Light vehicles on-site is one of the highest safety risks in the mining industry, so companies are looking to only use vehicles with the highest 5-star ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Program) safety ratings,” said Lawrence. “Our expanding fleet already includes 5-star rated mine-equipped vehicles with all the latest safety features.”

In addition, the changing nature of the resources industry also means the vehicle rental industry would continue to play a vital role in meeting the sector’s needs, according to Lawrence.

“To efficiently manage the changing demands of this industry, resource companies need to be able to bring in fleet quickly and also de-fleet quickly with no penalty costs involved – that’s the flexibility that comes with a rental fleet, and we have the vehicles and systems to meet that need,” added Lawrence.