Buchbinder - the company's history

 

1957
Buchbinder Car Rental is founded in Amberg. This lays the foundation for the implementation of the business idea and for the successful growth history of Buchbinder Car Rental.

1960s
Buchbinder Car Rental moves its central headquarters from Amberg to Regensburg and expands its branch network to Austria.

1990s
Thanks to its reliability and high customer satisfaction, Buchbinder Car Rental is now the largest truck rental company in Germany and Austria.

2001
CharterLine Fuhrpark-Service GmbH, founded in 1997 by Konrad Altenbuchner with 50 rental vehicles, acquires the Austrian branch network of Buchbinder. From then on, the branch network in Austria is expanded in record time across the board in all provinces. As a result, Buchbinder Rent-a-Car achieves market leadership in Austria.

2002
CharterLine Fuhrpark-Service GmbH acquires the Europe-wide trademark rights for the Buchbinder brand in 2002. In the following years Buchbinder Rent-a-Car also consistently expands its rental business in Northern Italy, Hungary and Slovakia.

2004
Buchbinder Rent-a-Car, the Austrian headquarters in the third district of Vienna, is the only car rental company to extend its opening hours to 24 hours a day so that customers can rent a car around the clock. 

2009
Buchbinder Rent-a-Car customers benefit from rental stations with extensive fleets of rental cars at all major Austrian airports.

2013                                                                                                                                                       
As a result of the integration of Terstappen car rental, Buchbinder Rent-a-Car can now offer its tourism and business customers car rental services at major international airports in Germany, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich and Cologne. The expansion is an important cornerstone for Buchbinder in order to be able to serve customers in the target markets of business and tourism even better. Buchbinder is curbing CO2 emissions: 125 locations in Germany have been using green electricity since 2013. Buchbinder thus makes a valuable contribution to environmental protection. With an annual electricity consumption of 1,110,321 kWh in the cooperating branches, Buchbinder is now avoiding an annual emission of 564 tonnes of CO2.  

2014
Buchbinder Rent-a-Car employs around 1,500 people and has a network of 160 branches in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Northern Italy. The key to Buchbinder Rent-a-Car's success continues to be its employees, whose motivation, competence and efficiency ensure the long-term success of the company. This is demonstrated by the numerous awards that Buchbinder Rent-a-Car has won in recent years. Growth has shaped the company's development in recent years and decades. Buchbinder Rent-a-Car has therefore long been motivated to set its sights on the next targets in order to further expand its station network and vehicle fleet internationally in the interests of customer service at the highest level.

2015
At the "World Travel Market" (WTM) trade fair in London, Car & Fly GmbH announces the market launch of the GLOBAL Rent-a-Car franchise concept. GLOBAL Rent-a-Car is a new concept that unites independent and local car rental companies worldwide for the benefit of the customers. The aim of the GLOBAL Rent-a-Car brand is to establish a healthy counterweight to the existing and dominant industry giants. Through its cooperation with GLOBAL Rent-a-Car, Buchbinder Rent-a-Car is the first German franchisee to achieve international availability. True to the motto: "Think local, rent GLOBAL". By opting for GLOBAL Rent-a-Car, customers support independent car rental companies without having to compromise on quality, service or value for money. Instead, customers benefit from transparent tariffs that are precisely tailored to their needs and requirements. The focus of GLOBAL Rent-a-Car is on a partnership-based cooperation that goes far beyond the existing licensing systems. With GLOBAL Rent-a-Car, partners can draw on expertise across all areas and aspects of modern car rental. GLOBAL Rent-a-Car helps Buchbinder Rent-a-Car to tap new potential in the low-cost segment.

2016
Hubert M. Terstappen takes over the management of the entire operational business of the Buchbinder Group.

With "Special Cars & Services" Buchbinder introduces another attractive product. On the occasion of an expansion of the fleet, Buchbinder now also includes high-end, luxury and sports vehicles in its portfolio. With this offer, Buchbinder addresses the target group of those who are enthusiastic about sportiness, innovative technologies, elegance and powerful engines. As a special service in addition to Europe-wide delivery and collection, "Special Cars & Services" offers a chauffeur and security service, event and incentive management, individual logistics services as well as vehicles for testing and comparison purposes, so that no wishes remain unfulfilled. Buchbinder launches a two-brand strategy and from now on will offer GLOBAL Rent-a-Car products in its city and airport stations in addition to the Buchbinder Rent-a-Car brand.

2017                                                                                                                                     
Buchbinder becomes part of the Europcar Mobility Group. However, this does not change the operational business of the company. The company continues to drive its success as an independent brand by acquiring the Berlin cult car rental company "Robben & Wientjes".

2018
Buchbinder takes over the operative business of InterRent Germany in April. In November, the successful takeover of the business of InterRent Austria follows.