Enterprise Rent-A-Car is a fast-rising company on Australia’s vehicle rental scene, and a recent order for 60 new IVECO Daily 35S13 vans is set to further propel the company’s commercial vehicle rental ambitions.
Already operating in over 90 countries and territories across the world and with a fleet of over 1.9 million vehicles in service, it was only a matter of time before Enterprise landed on local shores with the promise to customers of better service and value.
The company’s National Remarketing and Franchise Manager – ANZ, Thai Pham, said the New Daily order would provide additional options for its Australian customers.
“Our entry into the van segment adds to our existing passenger fleet, as we wanted to expand our service offering to customers,” Thai said.
“In Australia we’ve previously been limited to passenger vehicles but we’ve identified some opportunities in the commercial vehicle space, particularly with vans and our plan is to launch commercial vehicles to all major cities in Australia.”
Twenty-five units of the 60 new Daily van order have already been delivered with the vehicles making their way to Enterprise outlets along Australia’s eastern seaboard and to South Australia – the remaining vehicles will enter service in early 2018.
All of the vans are specified with IVECO’s efficient 2.3 litre turbodiesel engine producing 126 hp and 320 Nm of torque.
Thai said that the efficient IVECO engine was a good match for the 12 m³ vans in this application, particularly when coupled to IVECO’s market-leading ‘Hi-Matic’ 8-speed full automatic transmission.
“The smaller engine provided an attractive value proposition and provided adequate power to allow our rental customer to confidently operate the vans at the upper end of their payload,” he said.
“There was also notable fuel efficiency benefits to be had from the 2.3 litre engine.
“The availability of a full automatic transmission was extremely important for us – we want to make driving the van as easy as possible for our clients and potential customers, the New Daily really drives like a car,” Thai said.
“Safety features were another key consideration, the safety of our customers and employees is always a priority.”
As standard, the new Daily range is fitted with four SRS airbags, front and rear disc brakes with ABS and EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) as well as Hill Holder which prevents rollback when the vans are stationary in traffic on a steep incline.
Other benefits of the range include a Bluetooth-equipped radio with steering wheel-mounted controls that allow the operator to maintain full control of the steering wheel at all times, while rear reverse sensors assist in manoeuvring the vans.
In selecting the new Daily vans, the Enterprise team also took into consideration IVECO’s high standing as a van manufacturer, particularly in Europe but increasingly so in Australia.
“We wanted to select a reputable supplier with good brand recognition that would also provide us with good service,” Thai said.
“The Daily is a familiar sight on European roads and we’re seeing more and more of these vans locally.
“During the vehicle evaluation and purchasing process, we also received a fantastic experience from Ben Osborn and the rest of the IVECO key account team, the customer service was impeccable.
“As a company we’re confident that we can successfully grow this segment of our business and we look forward to having a continued relationship with IVECO to service our equipment needs in this area.”