CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Zipcar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIP) , the world’s leading car sharing network, today announced the exercise of its option to purchase a majority ownership interest in Barcelona-based Catalunya Carsharing S.A., known as Avancar. The company operates a fleet of vehicles throughout the cities of Barcelona and Sant Cugat del Valles.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2012, and builds on Zipcar’s initial equity investment in Avancar in December 2009. With this transaction, Zipcar increases its percentage ownership in Avancar to a controlling stake of 60 percent.

“We are excited to increase our position in Avancar which maintains a leadership position in the attractive Barcelona market,” said Scott Griffith, Chairman and CEO of Zipcar. “We expect Barcelona to be a top tier car sharing city in the years to come and a key part of our developing network of European cities. With the integration of our acquired U.K. operations completed, we have shifted our focus to expanding our European reach. Overall car sharing adoption remains strong, and we look forward to entering new markets in both Europe and North America while also continuing to drive member growth and usage in existing metro areas and universities.”

About Avancar
Avancar Carsharing was the first car sharing operator in Spain, and has been offering cars per hour or per day in Barcelona and its metropolitan area since 2005. The company operates a fleet of vehicles throughout the cities of Barcelona and Sant Cugat del Valles. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, allowing reservations to be made online or by telephone up to five minutes before the start of one’s trip. More information is available at www.avancar.es.

About Zipcar
Zipcar is the world’s leading car sharing network with approximately 650,000 members and 9,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.

Photos and b-roll footage are available for media purposes at www.zipcar.mediaroom.com.

Zipcar and the Zipcar logo are trademarks of Zipcar, Inc. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including statements with respect to our potential future European and North American expansion, the potential car sharing market in Barcelona and continued growth in existing markets. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include our ability to profitably attract new members and retain existing customers, adverse economic conditions in general and adverse economic conditions specifically affecting the markets in which we operate, our ability to compete effectively, our ability to expand into new geographic markets, and our ability to manage growth and other risks detailed in our publicly available filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements reflect our expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as reflecting our views, expectations or beliefs at any date subsequent to the date of this release.

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SOURCE Zipcar, Inc.