Hertz Global Holdings Inc. announced it has acquired Eileo S.A., the Paris-based car sharing technology. Eileo's end-to-end solutions are utilized by Connect by Hertz, currently operating in London, New York City and Paris. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Mark P. Frissora, chairman and CEO of Hertz said, “Eileo provides state-of-the-art, user-friendly technology innovations for the global car sharing industry. Acquiring Eileo underscores Hertz's long-term commitment to be the car sharing leader by providing comprehensive, customer-friendly solutions in this technology-driven business. Eileo will continue to create competitive advantages for Connect by Hertz and we will also deploy their technology to create advantages in our car and equipment rental businesses.”
Arnaud Lejeune, CEO of Eileo, said, “We are proud to partner with Hertz to deliver future generations of car sharing technologies and speed up the implementation of our industry vision on two continents. We share a passion for creating the most user-centric and enjoyable car sharing experience, which already drives Connect by Hertz services. While continuing to serve the whole car sharing industry, we are excited by the opportunity to expand the applications of our technology to other business platforms,” Lejeune concluded.
Founded in 2002, Eileo has been providing technology solutions to the car sharing industry which has experienced 25 percent year-over-year growth over the past five years. In addition, Eileo also designs technology-driven solutions for the transportation industry, providing fleet tracking and monitoring. Over the past year, Eileo's car sharing revenues more than doubled as the company worked with more than 20 car sharing operators worldwide. The number of car sharing members Eileo handles increased by 70 percent over the past six months, with an increase of nearly 50 percent in the last quarter.
Eileo's solution encompasses the entire car sharing process—from member registration, to booking, to car access, to invoice and payment functions. For improving car sharing operator efficiency, Eileo provides a variety of alert and report functions, and remote vehicle monitoring. A unique, patented vehicle immobilizer function ensures the safety of each company's car sharing fleet. Eileo's proprietary ASP software supports more than 400 features to fit with the most sophisticated business models. Car-embedded technology includes GPS, GPRS, Bluetooth and RFID technologies, which are easily installed and non-invasive to the vehicles' overall design and functionality. Also, the company's service options include: online payment, printed smartcards, SMS alerts (text messages) for car sharing members, in-car hands-free phone assistance, and Bluetooth audio kits. Packaged with the delivery of Eileo's software and hardware systems, first-class business services contribute to high performance and reliability of the system through expert technical support and specific product development.
