Private company

Auto Europe

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

Car rental wholesale company

Auto Europe is a car rental wholesale company, working with approximately 24,000 car rental locations in 180 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, as well as North and South America. International car rental is the main service sold by Auto Europe. In addition to traditional self-driven rental cars, Auto Europe books luxury and sport vehicles, motorhome and campervan rentals, European Leasing, as well as chauffeur and airport transfer services.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1954Founded¹

Industrycar rental company, tourism¹
HeadquartersPortland¹
Websitewww.autoeurope.com
Legal formlimited liability company¹

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The story

Auto Europe was founded in Germany in 1954 by Alex Cecil. The company got its start purchasing cars to rent to U.S. travelers in Europe. Cecil later moved to New York and eventually relocated the company to Maine. In 1997, Alex Cecil retired, passing the reins to current leadership.

In 1995, Auto Europe began offering airfare and hotels under the name Destination Europe. In 2010, they re-branded this division as Fly International.

In 2003, Auto Europe was acquired by private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners. Auto Europe was acquired by Court Square Capital Partners in December 2006.

In December 2025, Auto Europe was acquired by Deck2 Capital and a consortium of New York-based credit funds.

As of late 2025 written customer services communication is handled by machines. This results in applications for refunds for services not rendered to not be processed.

From Wikipedia’s article on Auto Europe, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Products and brands

Car hire

Auto Europe collaborates with a number of suppliers including Europcar, Thrifty Car Rental, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Sixt, National Car Rental, Alamo, Buchbinder, Ezi Car Rental, First Car Rental, County Car Rentals, Rhodium and more.

European car leasing

Auto Europe has partnered with Peugeot Car-2-Europe, Renault Eurodrive, Citroën Car-2-Europe and DS Car-2-Europe to provide another option for long-term car hire in Europe. Those travelling around Europe for 21 to 175 days can travel freely throughout over 40 European countries.

Motorhome rental

Auto Europe offers motorhome hire in a number of countries with a range of supplies including: Star RV, Jucy, Apollo, Maui, Mighty Campers, Britz, Cruise America, Cruise Canada, Bunk Campers, Anywhere Campers, McRent, Road Bear, Star RV, CanaDream, Just Go, Avis Car-Away and more. Auto Europe services various countries all around the globe including: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, most of Europe, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan and more.

Luxury car hire

Auto Europe offers a range of high-end vehicles such as Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Range Rover and more to choose from in various locations worldwide.