SIXT drops Tesla, buys 250,000 rental cars from Stellantis
After dropping Tesla, global rental car giant SIXT says it will buy up to 250,000 vehicles from Stellantis for its fleets in North America and Europe.
The multi-billion euro deal will see Stellantis delivering EVs, PHEVs (and gas cars, smh) to SIXT starting this quarter, and it will carry on over the next three years.
However, SIXT says it still plans to electrify as much as 90% of its vehicles in Europe by the end of the decade.
SIXT says it will take delivery of Stellantis brands, including “Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall and Maserati.” It will add “city cars to SUVs to vans and trucks (including 7- and 9-seaters)” into its rental fleet.
Konstantin Sixt, Co-CEO of SIXT, said it enables the company to accelerate its growth strategy “after already achieving global revenue growth of almost 20% in the first nine months of 2023. This ambition applies to European countries, but of course, also to the US, the largest rental market in the world and the most important growth market for our company.”
In December, SIXT announced it would cut Teslas from its fleet because Tesla’s deep price cuts undercut used car prices – an important revenue source for rental car companies. It also said that Teslas had higher repair costs compared to gas cars.
As for Stellantis, the Fiat 500e will be the first EV that it launches in the US. Stellantis has had a rough time of late, resulting in layoffs in both the US and Europe as it works to transition to electric, so this big order from SIXT is welcome news for the company. The automaker says it’s aiming to achieve 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of US sales to be battery electric vehicles by 2030.
Last week, Hertz announced it would sell off around 20,000 Teslas, citing the same reasons SIXT gave. Hertz started purchasing its Tesla fleet at peak prices, but then Tesla began to drop prices to create demand amid increasing interest rates. That resulted in the crash of the value of Hertz’s Tesla fleet.
SIXT is one of the largest car rental companies in Europe, and it has locations in over 100 countries
and more than 8,500 employees worldwide. SIXT USA has opened 100 locations in 18 states, including 30 airport locations, since 2011.
Photo: Stellantis
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Tesla has wiped off the 26,000 miles on the odometer of a Cybertruck in service, scratched the vehicle, and then returned it to the owner like nothing happened.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Oregon was quite surprised when he went to pick up his Cybertruck, which was in service to install a new lightbar, fix some panel gaps, and figure out an ABS alert that wouldn’t go away.
According to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club, Tesla had wiped the odometer clean on the Foundation Series ‘Cyberbeast’, which had over 26,000 miles on it.
The owner shared a video of the Cybertruck’s odometer going from 0 to 1 mile for the second time:
The odometer on the vehicle was wiped and both the app and service many also showed the same mileage.
The owner shared a screenshot of the app after 15 miles:
He went to the online forum for advice:
Anyone else have their odometer Thanos-snapped after a controller swap? Can Tesla unsnap it or am I forever “True Mileage Unknown”?
Interestingly, Tesla is currently being sued for allegedly messing with the odometers of its vehicles. However, the lawsuit is for accelerating the mileage, not reducing it, like in this case.
It was not the only surprise from this service visit for this Cybertruck owner.
The owner was not satisfied with the lightbar installation, which he claims has a half-inch gap on the passenger side while it is flush on the driver side. He wrote:
It’s basically smiling sideways at everyone.
It’s also unclear why Tesla was messing with the vehicle’s tailgate, but it ended up having a bolt moving around it, causing scratches and Tesla left a bolt unbolted:
At this point, the truck was returned with more problems than it had when it entered service.
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Nissan is on the brink of collapsing. After the Honda deal fell through, it looks like another Japanese automaker is tossing it a lifeline. As Nissan struggles to stay afloat, Toyota is emerging as a potential “backer” in a new tie-up.
Are Toyota and Nissan partnering?
“If we don’t take action now, the situation will only get worse,” Nissan’s President, Ivan Espinosa, said during a press conference on May 13.
Facing falling sales, ballooning debt, and slumping profits, Nissan introduced a new recovery plan last week, “Re:Nissan.” The struggling automaker aims to cut costs by 250 billion yen to return to profitability by FY 2026.
As part of its efforts to turn the business around, Nissan will cut 20,000 jobs by FY2027. It’s also abandoning plans to build a new EV battery facility in Japan. Seven other plants will be closed, including one in Thailand and two in Japan.
After its planned EV merger with Honda fell through in February, rumours surfaced that Nissan was scrambling to find another partner.
According to a new report from Japan’s MainiChi, a Toyota executive recently reached out to Nissan about a potential partnership. The tie-up could involve Toyota acting as Nissan’s “backer” to support it while it restructures.
Nissan and Toyota both unveiled a wave of new electric vehicles set to roll out over the next few years. The upgraded Nissan LEAF EV will arrive in the US and Canada later this year with more range, an NACS port, and a new crossover style. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to arrive by 2027.
In Europe, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF later this year, followed by the new Micra EV and Qashqai electric crossover. In 2026, the new Nissan Juke EV will join the lineup.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s upgraded bZ electric SUV (formerly the “bZ4X”) will arrive at US dealerships in the second half of 2025.
In 2026, the smaller C-HR electric SUV and rugged bZ Woodland EV will follow. By the end of the year, Europe will see three new Toyota electric SUVs: the C-HR+, Urban Cruiser, and upgraded bZ4X.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota already has a stake in several Japanese automakers, including Subaru (20%), Mazda (5.1%), Suzuki (4.6%), and Isuzu (5.9%), so backing Nissan wouldn’t come as a shock.
Espinosa said Nissan was open to new partnerships. Nissan’s chief said the company will continue collaborating with others, including Mitsubishi, which will use the upcoming LEAF as the basis for its new EV for North America.
Japanese carmakers have been notoriously slow in shifting to all-electric vehicles, which is now costing them in key overseas markets like Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and others.
Chinese EV leaders, like BYD, are quickly expanding overseas to drive growth this year. Next year, it will launch its first kei car (see the first spy shots), or mini EV, which is already being called “a huge threat” to Japan.
Pooling resources and teaming up may be the best (or only) option at this point. Can Toyota help Nissan turn things around? Or will it be too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Check back soon for details. This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
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