MVS Zeppelin rebrands as Zeppelin Rental

MVS Zeppelin has rebranded as Zeppelin Rental, dropping the name of the Berlin company it acquired eight years ago and focusing instead on the brand of its parent, Caterpillar dealer Zeppelin.

The change was made at the start of January, with employees and customers informed before 2 January. The rebranding will directly affect MVS Zeppelin operations in Germany and Austria and is expected to be completed by March.

Separately there has been speculation that Zeppelin may be considering a sale of the rental business. However when asked by IRN, Dr Janina Knab, Zeppelin's head of corporate communications, said; "Our rental business unit has had an exceptionally good performance within the Zeppelin group. We don't plan to sell our rental companies, neither in the short-term nor the long-term."

The renaming follows last year's decision to create a Strategic Rental business unit within Zeppelin encompassing its rental activities in Germany, Austria, Russia and the Czech and Slovakian Republics.

Klaus Kögel, marketing manager of Zeppelin Rental, told IRN that the time was right to move away from the old brand; "MVS was acquired eight years ago. Now we are sure that the MVS brand doesn't have such a big relevance.

"The rebranding focuses on the strength of our core brand - for us it is important to focus on Zeppelin and its brand history. We see the possibility to have a more common identity within Zeppelin and its divisions [including Hyster forklifts, Power Systems and Construction equipment]." Zeppelin Rental will also use Cat Rental Store in its branding.

Mr Kögel said the name change would not have any impact on the company's business model, which remains a rental service model including a wide range of allied equipment alongside the core Cat machine rental activities. See our previous story on this subject.