Caroline Parot to step down as Europcar CEO

Caroline Parot has announced her intention to leave Europcar Mobility Group following changes to the company’s leadership structure.

Parot joined Europcar Mobility Group in 2011 and was appointed CFO in March 2012. In 2016, she became CEO and led the company’s transformation which is still ongoing.

Parot said: “I am delighted to have led this transformation over the last years, driven by the Group’s purpose – to offer attractive alternatives to vehicle ownership in a responsible and sustainable way -, and constantly adapting to various unprecedented situations and market conditions which developed the company’s resilience.

“I will be leaving the Group with a sense of fulfillment, as it is now perfectly positioned, with its new reference shareholder, to make the most of rapidly reshaping mobility ecosystems. I would also like to praise the Europcar Mobility Group’s teams, whose commitment and customer dedication made - and will continue to make - a decisive difference.” 

Green Mobility Holding, a bidder consortium consisting of Volkswagen, Attestor and Pon Holdings, has become the controlling majority shareholder of Europcar Mobility Group. It intends to change the governance of the business, replacing its current one-tier board of directors with a two-tier structure with a supervisory board and a management board.

The change in governance is subject to the approval of Europcar Mobility Group’s Annual General Meeting on June 29, 2022, and would be then effective after this meeting. 

The consortium will propose, at the Annual General Meeting, the appointment of five candidates for the newly created Supervisory Board: Imelda Labbé and Holger Peters of Volkswagen, Jan-Christoph Peters and David Alhadeff of Attestor as well as Janus Smalbraak of Pon Holdings.

Independent members of the current board of directors  will pursue their functions within the newly created Supervisory Board. 

In addition to Parot, current Chairman Alexandre de Juniac as well as Carl Leaver and Simon Franks will leave their functions of members of the board of directors of Europcar Mobility Group after the two-tier board structure is implemented. The consortium stated that it will announce further management changes in due course. 

Following the election at the Annual General Meeting, it is planned that Holger Peters will be appointed as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. 

He said: “Europcar Mobility Group is facing a major transformation from a traditional rent-a-car business to a tech company in the field of future mobility. With the support of the consortium, the Group will have to continue its transformation and invest hundreds of millions to upgrade its infrastructure, increase its agility and enhance its overall offering over the next couple of years. I am looking forward to working closely with the future management team of Europcar Mobility Group on this major challenge.”