Autolib': Parisian municipalities will finally have to compensate Bolloré

The Bolloré group must be compensated to the tune of 66 million euros by the Parisian municipalities that had used the Autolib' car-sharing service, the Paris administrative court of appeal ruled on Friday. Autolib' was seeking compensation for the damages suffered due to the termination of the contract in 2018 by the joint syndicate Autolib' Vélib' Métropole (SAVM), after a commercial failure and heavy deficits.

Launched in 2011, Autolib' was initially expected to generate a profit of at least 56 million euros per year with thousands of small electric "Bluecars" distributed throughout the Ile-de-France region. But Bolloré quickly announced a slight, then a heavy deficit, despite 150,000 subscribers.

In 2018, Autolib' had notified the joint syndicate of the lack of economic interest in the concession and had requested the payment of financial compensation of 233.7 million euros. The joint syndicate refused and terminated the contract on June 25, 2018. The Bolloré group then took it to court and lost in 2023 at first instance, where it claimed 235 million euros.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Bolloré group by confirming that clauses in the Autolib' contract, providing for the SMAVM to cover operating losses exceeding 60 million euros, were indeed applicable.

The Court noted that "the failings of the Autolib' company are not the cause of the lack of economic interest of the concession, which is essentially due to an excessively optimistic turnover forecast at the time of its launch". However, it notes that "both the Autolib' company and the SMAVM were slow to react to the difficulties of the concession".

It therefore considers that the company Autolib' should have notified, "no later than November 30, 2013", the lack of economic interest in the car-sharing service, which would have "allowed the concession to be terminated - and thus the costs to be stopped - as of December 31, 2013".

The Court concludes that Autolib' can claim compensation for the cumulative deficit of the concession exceeding 60 million euros until the end of 2013 only.

The SMAVM will therefore have to pay, with interest, 44.9 million euros in compensation for these losses, almost 13 million euros for the vehicle charging stations, and 8.2 million for the costs of terminating the contracts that Autolib' had concluded for leases or with suppliers.