Sixt: Tesla kicked out of car rental company, mega deal with Stellantis

The phasing out of electric cars from EV pioneer Tesla is in full swing at major car rental companies Sixt and Hertz. Sixt had already announced the step in December 2023: "The last time we bought Tesla vehicles was in 2022. The Teslas currently still in our fleet will be sold as part of our regular phase-out process at the end of their holding period," said a Sixt company spokesperson.

As the spokesperson emphasized when asked by Notebookcheck, the decisions regarding Tesla and Stellantis have nothing to do with each other. "We view ourselves as a driving force on the topic of e-mobility. We have already invested a lot in this and will continue to do so, e.g. in attractive electric rental vehicles from a wide range of brands and manufacturers and in equipping stations with our own charging points. We want to electrify 70% to 90% of our fleet in Europe by 2030. The path we are taking to achieve this will be influenced by numerous framework conditions."

The reasons why Elon Musk's Tesla e-cars are being rejected by car rental companies are obvious: firstly, unlike traditional car manufacturers, Tesla is leaving car rental companies with the difficult issue of residual value and calculation risk for used electric cars. Musk does not offer the buyback contracts with agreed-upon return prices, which is otherwise customary in the industry, for his Teslas. On the other hand, Tesla has drastically reduced the resale value of used Tesla models with repeated price cuts.

But customers will not have to do without affordable electric mobility at car rental company Sixt in the future. In addition to already available e-cars and hybrids from brands such as BMW, Fiat, Lynk & Co, Mercedes, MG Motor, NIO, Polestar and Renault, Sixt now also offers e-cars from Chinese car manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams). As part of the mega-deal between Sixt and Stellantis announced in mid-January, the German car rental company intends to acquire up to 250,000 Stellantis vehicles for its rental fleet in Europe and North America over the next three years. The Sixt-Stellantis deal has a total value of several billion dollars.