Drivalia is a Finalist for Best Car Rental Company at the
2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and it is the category's genuine insurgent: a young brand with old-money backing, built by CA Auto Bank — the Crédit Agricole group's automotive financing house — to reimagine what a rental company looks like when designed from scratch for the electric, subscription-led decade. While incumbents retrofit, Drivalia has expanded across Europe at conspicuous pace, planting its distinctive stores and mobility hubs from its Italian heartland through Spain, France, Portugal and into the UK.
The proposition spans every duration a working life produces. Classic daily rental runs alongside subscription products that put a car on a monthly footing without leasing's paperwork, and flexible terms bridge the project-length middle ground that traditional players price awkwardly. The electric commitment is structural rather than cosmetic: EVs and hybrids thread heavily through the fleet, charging capability is built into the network's hubs, and the model's financing-house parentage keeps vehicles young and specification current. For sustainability-minded travel programmes, that combination — modern fleet, measurable emissions, flexible terms — lands squarely on the tender's scoring grid.
Britain matters in the plan. UK operations extend the formula to airports and cities with the challenger pricing that gets a new entrant onto approved-supplier lists, and the group's momentum — new markets, new hubs, relentless openings — suggests a company building for decades rather than quarters. Digital-first booking and account handling suit the SME and scale-up market particularly well, where rental has long meant tolerating incumbents' processes. Rates undercut where challengers must, but the retention story is product-led: customers stay for the fleet and the flexibility.
Travelling for Business watches Europe's mobility upstarts closely, and few have converted ambition into physical network this quickly. The nomination recognises the freshest thinking in the category — a rental company built the way 2026 would build one, arriving exactly on schedule. Backing from one of Europe's great banking groups means the growth is capitalised, not hoped for — a distinction seasoned procurement teams check first when a new supplier bids.
Winners will be announced at the 2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and Drivalia will arrive charged either way.
