Not content with being a coach company and a decent alternative to the expensive and unreliable railways, National Express now sees itself as “the world’s premier shared mobility operator.”
To underline this new identity, National Express is rebranding as Mobico Group. At least it has vowels and capital letter (although not in the logo), but it does sound like a mobile phone company and it’s a pretty generic name – “mobi” is a suffix that is applied to any number of brands.
In March, National Express said that the ongoing train strikes had heled it to more than triple its annual profits, converting plenty of customers to coach travel on a long-term basis, not just as an emergency rail replacement service.
Mobico hasn’t gone too far with the rebrand and presumably costs will be minimal once the consultant’s fee is paid: its subsidiaries will keep their names, so its UK coach network will still be known as National Express, a name that has been in use since 1972. The company also has operations in North America, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Ignacio Garat, National Express Group CEO, said: “Whilst National Express is a highly valued consumer brand, Mobico better represents our multi-modal operations, global reach and future ambitions. We remain focused on providing best-in-class services and delivering our evolve strategy, with the intent of establishing Mobico Group as the world’s premier shared mobility operator.”
