The franchised American car rental company U-Save celebrated the official arrival of the brand in Italy with the grand opening of their flagship operation at the Bologna International Airport, the company announced Nov. 28.

The U-Save Master Franchise for Italy was acquired by the family-owned automotive group Morini who that holds brands including Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Ram. The Bologna operation is the second location to open in as many months and the team announced their ambitious plans for expansion throughout 2024 and 2025 with the opening of 12 more locations across the country, including Sicily in early 2024.

"It's fantastic to realize the further development of the U-Save brand here in Europe with the opening of the Italian market,” said Richard Lowden, president of U-Save International, in a news release. “We genuinely couldn't ask for a better partnership than the Morini Group which is a highly successful entrepreneurial automotive business with an incredible focus on the quality of service being delivered to our customers at the forefront of our ambitions.”

Pierre Bertoli, general manager for U-Save Italia, said, “We already have gotten off to an amazing start and we are confident this is just the beginning of a successful partnership. Before choosing U-Save as our partner, we searched long and hard in the franchised car rental sector and believe we have chosen well.” 

The U-Save launch was attended by the senior leadership teams of the Morini Group and U-Save International along with key supply partners supporting the brand’s European rollout, including Cartrawler, Holiday Autos, Carjet, Do You Spain, Enjoy Travel Group, and Tino Noleggio. 

Green Motion International Group acquired the U-Save brand and franchise network in 2022 and now operates in more than 15 countries worldwide.