Wallis Autókölcsönző, representing the Sixt brand, a subsidiary of the AutoWallis Group, completed an important development project involving the development of mobility services. Sixt rent-a-car, which provides rental services, opened its new technical base in Vecsés, near Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. The technical base of 1,349 square meters, with a total of 210 parking spaces, was created on a site of almost 6,000 square meters by renovating and converting existing structures. The total investment project budget amounted to HUF 705 million, for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided a grant of HUF 282 million to increase competitiveness. With this investment project, AutoWallis has prepared for the increase in tourism following the end of the pandemic, for the more cost-effective operation of Sixt, and for the quick support to be provided to any mobility services the Group may launch in the future (such as car sharing and fleet management). An important factor for the investment project was to increase the effectiveness of car rental services and the connected logistics, operations, technical, and vehicle preparation tasks. The development project took place as part of the AutoWallis Green Finance Framework, with the part required in addition to the state aid funded by AutoWallis using the proceeds of the green bonds issued last year. The green investment of Sixt’s new technical base was performed by ALTEO based on a cooperation agreement concluded by the two companies last year.

In line with AutoWallis’ green commitments, ALTEO has installed a 50 kW solar panel system on the property and 13 electric charging points, and has prepared the system for future connection to an energy storage facility. The technical base operates using heat exchangers for heating and cooling and uses only LED lighting, and vehicles are cleaned with both dry and wet handwashing methods. The fact that rental cars will no longer have to be moved between Sixt’s service points results in significant fuel savings, in addition to which the increasing proportion of hybrid or fully electric vehicles in the fleet can also be charged using electricity obtained with solar energy.

Gábor Dévai, Managing Director of Wallis Autókölcsönző and member of the AutoWallis Board of Directors, explained that the new site will operate at full capacity after its opening, as the increase in tourism has already seen a significant rise in demand for car rental services in the first half of the year. In the first quarter, traffic at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport grew by 987 percent compared to 2021 Q1, with Sixt more than doubling (+123.1%) the number of rental events and seeing an increase of 29.2 percent in the number of rental days to 39,185. The numbers of the first quarter show dynamic growth in short-term rentals for tourism purposes.

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