New U.K. Car Rental Locations Illustrate Closer Avis, Budget Ties

Car rental brand Budget Rent a Car has opened locations at six United Kingdom airports during the past six weeks after borrowing space from sister brand Avis, and is looking to do the same in other European countries. "There will quite possibly be more," said Andy Lewis, Europe, Middle East and Africa head of marketing and e-commerce for Budget. "There are a number of network gaps across the business in Europe."

As is the case in many European countries, room for car hire operations is often limited at U.K. airports, both for terminal counters and on-airport parking. This led Avis to carve out some of its existing space at Bristol, East Midlands, Exeter, Liverpool, London City and Newcastle for Budget to use.

According to Lewis, the move follows tighter cooperation between the jointly owned brands, which started last year. "Operations, sales and marketing and, to some extent, fleet are being managed closer together in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the U.K. and Spain," he said.

Sharing of premises has also started in Germany, where Budget's national franchisee collapsed in summer 2009. Since January, Budget has reopened in a joint branding exercise at key Avis locations in the country.