SK Rent-a-Car rebrands under new leadership

CEO Lee Jung-hwan. (Kim Ho-young)

South Korean car rental firm SK Rent-a-Car is embarking on a fresh start with a new corporate identity and ambitious growth plans as the company comes under the ownership of a global private equity firm. The firm is set to rebrand, shedding the name of SK and introducing a new vision to become the leader in the car rental industry.

“We began changing our company name and developing a new corporate identity by creating a task force dedicated to innovation,” CEO Lee Jung-hwan in a recent interview said in Seoul. The upcoming rebrand will also include a new brand identity with the new name, mission statement, and corporate logo are expected to be unveiled in the second half of 2025.

With a bold vision for growth, the company aims to double its sales from approximately 1.4 trillion won in 2023 to 3 trillion won ($2.06 billion) by 2029. The company plans to start a used rental service to achieve the sales goal, which means not selling vehicles that long-term lease customers returned into the used car market and instead renting out them again to new customers.

“Selling a used car generates cash for new vehicle purchases, but renting out used cars requires only a small monthly fee, which can affect balance sheets for two to three years,” Lee explained. “However, once this hard time has passed, the business has become more profitable. Many competitors struggle to take that strategy because of their short-term pressures and funding constraints.”

Lee added that the company can pursue the strategy thanks to the dedicated support from Affinity Equity Partners, a private equity firm that holds the largest shares in SK Rent-a-Car.

Affinity Equity Partners is focused on long-term value rather than short-term financial performance, allowing the company to invest in sustainable growth and innovation in the rental car industry, Lee said.