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Pullach (dpa) - Germany's largest car rental company Sixt also made a small profit in the corona crisis year 2020 and made the outgoing CEO Erich Sixt the greatest pleasure.

"I do not want to resign after 50 years and still make a loss last year," said the 76-year-old company patriarch on Tuesday in Pullach: "He was spared this flaw".

His sons Alexander and Konstantin, who will replace him as joint CEOs in June, would now lead the group to new horizons.

Travel restrictions and lockdowns had collapsed group sales from 2.5 to 1.5 billion euros.

Although Sixt reduced its car fleet by a quarter, cut 1200 jobs and sent many employees on short-time work, the group's pre-tax profit slipped into the red with minus 81.5 million euros.

But the sale of the leasing business resulted in a profit of 2 million euros after taxes.

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Compared with the billions in losses by two large competitors, this is a “very good result”, to which “my sons made a decisive contribution”, emphasized Erich Sixt.

Both have been on the Executive Board since 2015: 41-year-old Alexander Sixt, who is responsible for strategy, purchasing and HR, and his 38-year-old brother Konstantin, who is head of sales.

"They bring new momentum to the company, especially on the digital side," said Erich Sixt.

Alexander Sixt rejected any doubts about the functioning of the dual leadership: "We are already a tried and tested duo!"

They complement each other in terms of their tasks and character, and for both of them the company always has “absolute priority over personal sensitivities”.

Alexander and Konstantin Sixt studied business administration in London and Paris, have been with the company for over ten years and are promoting the merging and digital networking of classic car rental, car sharing and car subscription.

The fact that they are continuing their father's life's work in the fourth generation is "a sign of continuity and stability in the company," said Alexander Sixt.

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Speculations about a takeover - for example by a car manufacturer - he gave just as clear rejection as his father, who wants to take over the chairmanship of the supervisory board after the general meeting in June.

He's going into “part-time retirement”, said Erich Sixt.

With almost 77 years of age, he had already passed retirement age by 10 years, and now was “the ideal time for a generation change”.

The worst part of the Corona crisis is likely to be over.

A forecast for the current financial year would be dubious: "We do not know when international air traffic will recover, whether there will be a reasonably normal holiday season," he said.

A sign of hope is the east coast of the USA, where demand is currently exceeding supply.

In the USA, by far the largest market in the world for car rental companies, Sixt invested heavily during the crisis and expanded its network from 65 to 100 stations.

This will lead to a surge in sales as soon as the corona restrictions are relaxed - and thanks to vaccinations that should happen faster in the USA than in Europe.

“Besides us there are only three big players there, two of whom are shaky.

You can of course attack, ”said Erich Sixt.

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In the USA and several European countries, Sixt is now successfully offering car subscriptions - flexible long-term rentals, said sales manager Konstantin Sixt.

He didn't give any sales figures, but there are already 10,000 subscribers.

With the boom in online delivery services, the Truck & Van division has also grown strongly.

Erich Sixt led the company for half a century.

At the age of 25, he took over the management of what was then the Munich taxi company for his sick father in 1969 with 200 rental cars and a turnover of one million Deutschmarks.

"If my sons increase sales a thousandfold, they are in the trillions," he said at his last press conference on the balance sheet and laughed.

His wife Regine continues as a marketing manager in the company, "she's having fun".

But he still had one sad news, also for himself as a major shareholder: The dividend will probably be canceled again this year.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210302-99-656458 / 2