Features
1 Dec 20

Sixt Mobility Consulting: moving into the new mobility direction

Sixt Mobility Consulting is ambitious about its future. The fleet management and consulting arm of Sixt Leasing is ready to guide corporate fleets on the path to post-COVID mobility and to take on Europe.

We spoke with Michael Poglitsch, Managing Director of Sixt Mobility Consulting (SMC). SMC, a division of Sixt Leasing, was part of Sixt SE until the summer of this year, when Sixt sold its leasing business to Hyundai Capital Bank Europe, in its turn controlled by Banco Santander for 51% and Hyundai Motor Group for 49%.

What services does Sixt Mobility Consulting offer?

Poglitsch: "Sixt Mobility Consulting has four pillars: classical fleet management and outsourcing services is one. Second is consulting for companies, for instance on moving from buying cars to leasing or on drawing up a car policy. The third one is a global reporting tool which clients can use to gather all their global fleet data into one reporting platform. The fourth pillar is new mobility, where we are going to offer things like a mobility budget (Sixt Mobility Hub) in our app The Companion, which was launched in 2019 and is already being used by around 16,000 company car drivers."

"We are currently operating in five regions: Germany, France, the Benelux countries, Austria and Switzerland. We’re focussing on developing our business in those markets now but we’re planning to enter other major European markets at a later stage."

You’re coming to market at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries have lockdowns in place. Is that an opportunity or a threat for you?

"I see it as a positive thing. Companies now have to focus on saving money, cost-cutting and finding new ideas to be as efficient as they can be. This should give us a leg-up. So, I definitely expect the business to grow."

"There is clearly post-COVID and pre-COVID. Car policies will be changing and we are already talking with many clients on finding the way forward. Will fleets get smaller or stay the same? At his point, no one has a clue how this will develop over the next year, so there’s a lot to discuss."

"Another big topic is CO2 emissions, which was already high on the agenda before COVID. And then there’s the topic of new mobility and of finding ways to be an attractive employer."

How do you look at the New Normal as it is appearing now? Will new mobility options indeed become more important or will traditional fleet management services remain at the forefront?

"Environmental topics were already on the agenda before and they are getting more focus now. On top of that, avoiding costs can lead to a smaller role for the company car, with a budget solution instead where you just pay for what you use and not pay for something that’s sitting unused on a car park 95% of the time. So I definitely see us moving into this new mobility direction."

As Sixt Leasing has been sold by Sixt SE, will you continue to use the Sixt name?

"Santander and Hyundai intend to retain the brand "Sixt Leasing" on the basis of a brand licence agreement between Sixt and Sixt Leasing for a maximum transition period of five years. We expect a rebranding of Sixt Leasing and Sixt Mobility Consulting within that period of time. Our new name will surely emphasise our independence from both Sixt SE and Sixt Leasing."

Authored by: Benjamin Uyttebroeck