Which car rental companies are owned by the same company?

Which car rental companies are owned by the same company? More of them than the signs at the airport suggest. Four large groups own many of the international names travellers know, from Hertz and Avis to Enterprise and Europcar, and each of them runs several brands side by side. Green Motion added U-Save in 2022, while names such as Sixt, Locauto, Drivalia, Record Go and OK Mobility are not owned by any of those groups. This guide sets out who owns which brand, based on what the companies publish themselves, and explains what shared ownership does and does not change when you collect a car.

We checked every ownership fact below on 30 September and 1 October 2026, on the companies’ own websites, press releases and reports. Takeovers can change the picture, so the date matters; the sources are listed at the bottom.

Five rental groups and a long list of independents

Group	Rental brands the group names	Where the list comes from
Hertz Global Holdings	Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Firefly	Hertz investor relations site
Avis Budget Group	Avis, Budget, Zipcar	Avis Budget Group website
Enterprise Mobility	Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National, Alamo	Enterprise Mobility brands page
Europcar Mobility Group	Europcar, Goldcar, Fox-Rent-a-car, plus InterRent and Keddy by Europcar	Group website and its own press releases
Green Motion Limited	Green Motion, U-Save (since September 2022)	Green Motion about and news pages

Sixt, Locauto, Drivalia, Record Go, OK Mobility, Let’s Drive, Surprice and many others sit outside these groups; each is covered further down.

Are all car rental companies owned by the same company, then? No. The big groups own many of the best-known names, but no single owner stands behind the whole industry, and many brands at holiday airports are separate firms.

Hertz Global: Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly

Hertz Global Holdings states that its subsidiaries, including The Hertz Corporation, and its licensees operate four vehicle rental brands: Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly. Together they count more than 11,000 rental locations in 160 countries, according to the group’s investor pages.

That answers three common questions at once: Firefly, Thrifty and Dollar all belong to the Hertz group. Note the word “licensees” in the group’s own description: in some countries the desk carrying one of these names is run by a local company that holds the licence for the brand, not by Hertz itself.

For the flagship brand on its own, see our Hertz car rental guide.

Avis Budget Group: Avis, Budget and Zipcar

Avis Budget Group presents itself as a provider of mobility through three brands: Avis, Budget and Zipcar. The group gives a figure of roughly 10,250 rental locations in more than 180 countries.

So when someone asks “is Budget owned by Avis?”, the precise answer is that both are brands of the same parent, Avis Budget Group. They are sister brands with their own names and their own offers, rather than one brand owning the other.

Enterprise Mobility: Enterprise, National and Alamo

Enterprise Mobility, whose website carries the name Enterprise Holdings, Inc. in its copyright line, names three car rental brands. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is its flagship brand. National is positioned as a premium brand for the frequent airport traveller. Alamo is described as value-oriented, known for everyday low rental rates. In ownership terms, all three belong to one company.

One link surprises travellers heading to Italy. Locauto, the Italian rental company, writes on its history page that it became Enterprise Mobility’s Italian partner in 2013 under a long-term agreement, and that National and Alamo joined its brand portfolio in 2015. At the same time, Locauto describes itself as a 100% Italian company and as a family company. The relationship is a partnership: Locauto represents the Enterprise brands in Italy, but it is not one of Enterprise’s own brands.

Our Hertz vs Enterprise comparison looks at how these two groups differ at the counter.

Europcar Mobility Group: Europcar, Goldcar, InterRent and Keddy

Europcar Mobility Group’s website currently lists three brands: Europcar, with a premium positioning; Goldcar, a low-cost brand for holiday rentals; and Fox-Rent-a-car, a low-cost brand in the United States. The group gives its reach as more than 130 countries.

Two more names appear in the group’s own press releases:

• InterRent is listed in the press release of 5 July 2022 as one of the group’s four major brands, described as “mid-tier” car rental, next to Europcar, Goldcar and the car-sharing brand Ubeeqo.
• Keddy by Europcar was launched on 2 March 2015 as a product sold only through tour operators, online travel agencies and brokers. According to Europcar’s launch release, Keddy customers use the Europcar fleet and station network, with prestige vehicles excluded.

And who owns Europcar itself? Green Mobility Holding, a consortium formed by Volkswagen, Attestor and Pon Holdings. When the reopened offer period ended on 29 June 2022, the consortium held 93.62% of the share capital and asked for a squeeze-out and delisting of the remaining shares, scheduled for 13 July 2022. The group’s half-year statements for 2026 still name Green Mobility Holding as its sole shareholder since 2022.

So yes, Goldcar is part of Europcar Mobility Group, and Keddy and InterRent are Europcar names too. We set the two main brands side by side in Goldcar vs Europcar.

Green Motion and U-Save: one group since 2022

Green Motion was founded in the United Kingdom in 2007. Green Motion Limited, based in Woburn, Bedfordshire, holds the brand, and each country or region is operated under a franchise agreement awarded by Green Motion Limited or its subsidiaries. The company mentions more than 600 locations.

On 26 September 2022 Green Motion announced it had closed its acquisition of U-Save Car & Truck Rental, an American franchise brand founded in 1979 in North Carolina. Green Motion said the combined organisation would stay true to a franchise model in which every location is owned and operated by its own business professionals. Both names stayed, each with its own website and its own package terms per country. In Vrooem’s own searches, the two brands shared an address and largely the same cars at 11 or more locations.

Our Green Motion vs U-Save guide lists the airports where the two addresses match and compares the packages country by country.

Is Sixt owned by Hertz or Enterprise?

No. Sixt is a company in its own right: Sixt SE, headquartered in Pullach near Munich. Its own timeline begins in 1912, when Martin Sixt founded “Martin Sixt Autofahrten” with three vehicles. The car rental company “Auto SIXT” follows in 1951, and 1986 is the year Sixt went public, with the Sixt family leading the business across several generations. None of the four big groups names Sixt among its brands.

Like the groups above, Sixt also grows through franchise partners. Its published fleet figures include franchise countries, and in August 2026 it announced its expansion into Tunisia through a new franchise partnership. In some countries, then, the Sixt desk you visit is run by a partner under the Sixt brand. For a side-by-side with a big-group brand, see Sixt vs Europcar.

Drivalia, Locauto, Record Go and other names travellers ask about

Is Drivalia part of Green Motion? No. Drivalia is the rental and subscription company of the CA Auto Bank group, and CA Auto Bank names the Crédit Agricole Personal Finance & Mobility group as its shareholder. Green Motion belongs to Green Motion Limited in England.

Who owns Locauto? Locauto calls itself a 100% Italian company and a family company, renting cars since 1979 from more than 100 offices at airports, railway stations and city centres. It is Enterprise Mobility’s partner in Italy, as explained above. More in our Locauto guide.

Who owns Record Go? Record Go is a Spanish company, Record-go Alquiler Vacacional S.A., based in Castellón and registered in 2002, with offices in Spain, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece and Italy. None of the big groups lists it as a brand. Our Record Go Portugal guide covers its Portuguese airports.

Who owns OK Mobility? OK Mobility Group is headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, according to its own press releases, and it is not part of any of the big groups. See our OK Mobility guide.

Who is behind Let’s Drive? Let’s Drive (letsdrive.gr) is a member of the GELASAKIS Group of Companies, a private Greek business group active in tourism, shipping and hospitality, and of the Hellenic Car Rental Association. See our Let’s Drive guide.

Who owns Surprice? Surprice Car Rentals calls itself a constantly growing car rental brand, available through online brokers worldwide, and its website recruits franchise partners. Local franchisees run the branches, which is why Surprice sets its terms per country. See our Surprice guide.

Same logo, different operator: franchises and licensees

Ownership is only half the picture. Most names in this guide also work through local operators, as the companies say themselves:

• Hertz group: its brands are operated by subsidiaries and licensees.
• Europcar Mobility Group: in its 2022 description, wholly owned subsidiaries (18 in Europe, one in the United States and two in Australia and New Zealand), completed by franchises and partners.
• Sixt: its own countries plus franchise countries, such as the new partnership in Tunisia.
• Green Motion and U-Save: franchise systems; Green Motion awards a franchise per country or region, and each U-Save location runs under its own franchise agreement.
• Surprice: a franchise network, with terms per country.

In practice the brand is the same, but deposits, accepted cards, fuel rules, mileage and cross-border permission can differ per country, sometimes per branch. The question that decides your rental is less “who owns this brand?” than “whose terms are on my booking, and for which country?”

Why it matters which car rental companies are owned by the same company

Knowing the family tree helps in three concrete ways when you compare offers.

1. Sister brands keep their own rules. Goldcar and Europcar share an owner, yet a Goldcar booking follows Goldcar’s terms. The same goes for Budget and Avis, Thrifty and Hertz, Alamo and Enterprise. Judge each offer on its own excess, deposit, fuel rule, mileage and cancellation terms.
2. Two names can mean one fleet. Keddy by Europcar was built to use the Europcar fleet and stations, and U-Save and Green Motion often work from the same branch. You may then be choosing between two sets of terms for cars from one fleet, so compare the package and the car group, not the logo.
3. Brand lists change. Europcar Mobility Group’s 2022 list named Europcar, Goldcar, InterRent and Ubeeqo; its website today names Europcar, Goldcar and Fox-Rent-a-car. When an older forum post says who owns whom, check its date.

For the difference between excess and deposit, two of the terms on which sister brands can differ, see our guide to rental car excess and deposit.

Checks that work at any desk

Whoever owns the brand, the same habits help:

• Check the rental company and branch address on your voucher before you fly. Where sister brands share a building, this tells you which counter to go to.
• Bring a credit card in the main driver’s name with room for the deposit. Several brands in this guide accept debit cards for the deposit only with certain packages, or not at all.
• Make sure every scratch is on the vehicle report, and photograph the car, the fuel gauge and the mileage at pickup and at return.

Which of these brands can you book on Vrooem?

Several companies named above are Vrooem partners. In our own searches on 30 September 2026, for a week in November, these brands were available:

• Green Motion and U-Save (one group): at airports including London Heathrow, Manchester, Faro, Lisbon, Larnaca, Dubai, Cape Town and Marrakech; Green Motion turned up in 18 countries in those searches.
• Surprice: Heraklion, Athens, Rhodes, Dubrovnik, Split, Lisbon, Faro, Larnaca, Olbia, Milan Malpensa, Alicante and Tenerife.
• Let’s Drive: Athens, Heraklion, Rhodes and Larnaca.
• Locauto: Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Catania and Olbia.
• OK Mobility: Alicante, Malaga and Mallorca.
• Record Go: Faro and Lisbon.

The conditions are set by the rental company that supplies the car, as named on your voucher, so the advice above applies in full: compare the package, the excess and the deposit, not just the name. Every Vrooem booking also includes a free travel eSIM, which helps when you land and need to check which counter or shuttle your voucher points to.

Car rental ownership: quick questions

Is Goldcar owned by Europcar? In effect, yes: Goldcar and Europcar are both brands of Europcar Mobility Group, whose sole shareholder since 2022 is Green Mobility Holding, a consortium of Volkswagen, Attestor and Pon Holdings.

Is Firefly owned by Hertz? Yes. Hertz Global Holdings lists Firefly next to Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty as one of its four vehicle rental brands.

Is Budget owned by Avis? Both belong to Avis Budget Group, together with Zipcar. They are sister brands rather than one owning the other.

Are Alamo and National owned by Enterprise? Yes. Enterprise Mobility names Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National and Alamo as its car rental brands.

Is Keddy the same as Europcar? Keddy by Europcar was launched in 2015 as a Europcar product for tour operators, travel agencies and brokers, using the Europcar fleet and stations.

Is Sixt owned by Hertz? No. Sixt SE is a separate company based in Pullach, Germany, and none of the big groups lists it as a brand.

Sources

Checked on 30 September and 1 October 2026: Hertz Global Holdings investor relations, Avis Budget Group, Enterprise Mobility brands, Europcar Mobility Group, Europcar Mobility Group press release of 5 July 2022, Volkswagen Group on Green Mobility Holding, Europcar Mobility Group half-year financial statements 2026, Keddy by Europcar launch release, about Green Motion, Green Motion on the U-Save acquisition, about U-Save, Sixt SE, CA Auto Bank, Locauto who we are, Locauto history, Record Go, OK Mobility press release of 30 November 2023, about Let’s Drive and about Surprice.