The History of Touring Cars

In 2025, thousands of travellers chose Touring Cars in order to experience a genuine urban and rural places in Europe and to enjoy the flavours of vibrant unique atmosphere. Our franchise chain was finally on a solid foundation and all Covid-19 related issues were behind us. Our digitalisation projects were starting to be finished, though hunger for new projects grew and we started planning many more projects. Touringcars.com website was renewed and we introduced dynamic pricing. These helped our direct sales soar to over 50% and our sales figures grew rapidly to new heights. Additionally, our renewed concept was finally ready to be utilised and we started approaching franchisee candidates in numerous locations. In 2026 we already opened two new stations, Amsterdam and Madrid.

Touring Cars currently operates in 8 countries with 10 rental stations with the mission to provide you with excellent starting points for your next holiday.

If you are a passionate traveller interested in different cultures, landscapes, and sights at your own pace, this is the company for you. Come experience the key to freedom lifestyle with our premium motorhomes!

We Are Touring Cars Motorhome Rental 

Your Key to Freedom

In 2021 we were still in survival mode, trying our best to spread good feelings through our operations without letting anyone down. Luckily Covid-19 restrictions were lifted and we were able to start welcoming customers! The darker days were over and the road to growth was ours. Just a few darker clouds in the sky, it started to look promising. This was the time for rebuilding and developing our concept. We never stood still and in 2024 we already reached our pre-Covid sales figures.

In 2021 our owner Mrs Tanja Saarnio decided to bring her daughter Ms Elle Tick in the business. Elle joined the company’s Board of Directors and started working as an assistant in the vehicle sales department, while working on gaining her bachelor’s and master’s dergees in business. After graduating she took a leading role in Touring Cars’ administrative team as the Director of Sales and Admin Services. Our mother-daughter-duo now own the company together, Tanja Saarnio 51% and Elle Tick 49% and they continue to steer the business to new unexplored markets with a special passion for motorhomes.

In 2020 we had sold more rentals than ever and our chain management team was drowning in contact emails from franchise candidates. It was supposed to be our the best year yet, but then the unthinkable happened – Covid-19 hit and suddenly we had to find a way to stay afloat. It was a difficult year, we lost many partners to financial difficulties and had to sell our rental fleet to buyers.

Eventually after Covid-19 restrictions started to fade, our over 20 rental stations had shrunk to 9, out of which only a few were on a good foundation. We had to rebuild and re-evaluate our concept and corporate structure, as we want to be prepared for anything in the future. We started building a new better franchise model, one that offers financial and fleet management support even before it is needed. This process meant re-evaluating our existing stations and focusing on digitalisation, which involved rebuilding our website to match the demand we expected to get in coming years.

Sustainable business growth is more than a strategic choice of market expansions and fine tuning internal processes. To have the leading role in an industry, an organisation should be managed by skillfull, highly motivated, energetic and committed professionals. Hence, several new positions were opened in Touring Cars over the years alongside the growth path to strengthen the expertise in the core of the chain.

Another significant change was made when new board members entered our team. In 2019, Mr. Jonas Ideström and Kari Neilimo joined the core of Touring Cars as board members.

Mr. Jonas Ideström is the most contracted franchise consultant and internationally welknown of his talented franchise operations with over 100 companies in Scandinavia. Mr. Ideström is a chairman of the Swedish Franchise Association and has been a board member of the European Franchise Federation (EFF) throughout many years. Today, Mr. Ideström himself is a Founder, Partner, and Honorary Member of Franchise Arkitekt. He offers dedicated support for Touring Cars. His presence in our business culture allowed us to strategically reach our franchisees with a sustainable growth, to support our entrepreneurs better, and to expand Touring Cars portfolio to a European-wide coverage.

‘I have worked with independent company owners as franchisees practically all my professional life. The energy, optimism and drive that I find in these people is the most invigorating I know. Nothing is impossible for an entrepreneur. That’s what I call The Power of Franchise’ – Mr. Jonas Ideström adds.

Many of us could study from Mr. Kari Neilimo, Ph.D., and his Strategic Management and Management Accounting books are indeed studied across Europe. However, not many know about the professor’s growth path and highly demanding professional career across past decades. Mr. Neilimo was the CEO and Chairman of Board of Directors of S-Group, the biggest retail chain in Finland, visiting professor of Strategic Management and Management Accounting in several universities in Finland and abroad, Director of General Executive MBA Program since 2008 until 2024, Industrial Advisor, CEO and the founder of Neiconsulting Oy, a consultation company for strategic management. Today Mr. Kari is a professional board member, and a beloved addition to Touring Cars’ Board of Directors. His presence helps our local and international business culture to flourish.

As Touring Cars followed a massive development period, it reached a strong European-wide international presence with over 17 rental stations and franchisees by 2019.

Throughout 2019, several rental stations opened their doors to the public. Zagreb (Croatia), Nantes (France), Evenes (Norway), Moscow (Russia) and Scotland (UK) joined Touring Cars to strengthen our international reach and to spread the inspiration of an exclusive motorhome holiday concept across Europe.

In 2017, Touring Cars expanded its concept to new countries like Estonia, United Kingdom and Spain.

The following year, in 2018, Barcelona and Riga joined our franchise chain and started offering the most unique and luxurious motorhome rentals in the international market.

At the same time, Tanja Saarnio stepped down from her role as the Managing Director of Touring Cars to give room for a rising star: Veijo Tiitinen became our new Managing Director in 2018. He has a strong passion for our line of business and has always been excited to overcome obstacles. With his leadership Touring Cars has every possibility to conquer the world.

In 2012, Touring Cars celebrated its 30th anniversary and three wonderful decades of extraordinary growth by initiating a transformation through a new growth strategy. It was a good time to start building on our strong foundation as Touring Cars had partnerships with over 130 tour operators from around the globe and was running a vehicle fleet of over 200 units.

In 2013 Touring Cars officially became a franchise business with a strong concept and big plans. The preparation had started years before 2013, but the concept had to be perfect in order to succeed. When it was ready, others noticed it too – in fact, our biggest dream became true, when Hobby, the leading motorhome and caravan manufacturer, became our valued business partner. The factory partnership made purchasing and importing vehicles easier, as we now had our own financing terms that worked perfectly with our rental model.

It did not take much time until the next franchise agreement was signed. In 2014, a local franchisee agreement was signed in Reykjavik, Iceland and TC Rent Ltd was founded to be the heart of our international chain. The first real franchise network concept and structure was established.

In 2005, Touring Cars expanded its camper fleet and started its own direct import cooperation with Hymer Factory. Touring Cars was elected as `The Most Innovative Tourist Company` of the year. One of the jury members was the Finnish Tourist Board and as they got a whiff of our beloved company, they decided to also award Touring Cars with the Finnish Quality Award.

Along with the rapid expansion and other business activities, Touring Cars opened a new full-service motorhome centre in Vantaa. New premises enabled diverse customer service and vehicle maintenance activities to be done simultaneously, which made our operations even smoother. The Association for Finnish Work awarded Touring Cars Oy the Key Flag symbol, which shows that a product is manufactured or a service is produced in Finland. It is known as a symbol for quality, safety, and sustainability.

Touring Cars has always had a strong belief in the future. In 2007, with the help of our excellent staff, the company created unique tourist experiences for our customers and rewarding experiences for all cooperation partners. Due to our outstanding quality standards, we were invited to be a decision-making company member of the Quality Centre Excellence Finland.

When the real franchise conceptualising process began, numerous doors opened for our fruitful business. The next chapter in 2009 started with a new market – Touring Cars Iceland was founded and its motorhome rental operations started.

During 2005-2009, Touring Cars grew significantly. In 2009 we had 125 motorhome vehicles and 30.000 overnight stays. Touring Cars also had over 120 tour operator partnerships and travel agent co-operations worldwide.

In 2001 global tourism industry faced a challenging period caused by the terrible incident known as 09/11. However, according to the Touring Cars -mindset, challenges are meant to be overcome. Despite the global situation, Touring Cars did not give up on its innovative concept and decided to focus on technological expansion and digitalisation.

In 2002, Touring Cars’ first official staff training program and quality handbook were created. The more standardised model helped the company reach an even higher level of customer service. Eventually, the company also joined the quality system 1Q00 (Laatutonni) of the Finnish Tourist Board MEK.

Touring Cars expanded operations in Sweden in 2003 by buying the already established business from it’s Swedish business partner. The customer magazine was revised and was marketed to international travel bureaus. The company became a member of the Association of Finnish Travel Agents AFTA.

In 2004, Touring Cars expanded its activities even further in Finland by opening offices in Kuopio, Pori and Oulu. We were awarded official praise by the Finnish Tourist Board and Dunn & Bradstreet awarded the company the highest possible credit ranking, AAA.

Before the start of the new millenia, Touring Cars grew strongly and new products were created. For example the reinvestment program, where you buy a motorhome and rent it back to Touring Cars was created already in the nineties! Touring Cars’ major focus was to strengthen local presence and to expand across the Nordics. The company started cooperation with Solifer and aimed to conquer the world with them.

Mrs. Tanja Saarnio became the sole owner of Touring Cars. The company decided to invest in a good-quality camper fleet and put a strong emphasis on customer service; the customer-oriented magazine Key To Freedom was founded.

The spark behind Touring Cars franchise concept started at the early stage. It involved constant planning, creative way of thinking, taking chances and moving forward. Always focused on the next step and looking at challenges from a higher perspective. In 1987 in order to grow the company internationally, Hannu Kekäläinen decided to seek for help. He contacted the Finnish Russian Chamber of Commerce and reached Tanja Saarnio, an enthusiastic info desk clerk. However, Tanja was very busy with her own plans and not really interested in joining Hannu on his adventure; but eventually Tanja agreed to help grow Touring Cars’ motorhome safari operations in Karelia, Russia.

‘I remember the day clearly. Hannu sent me a terribly itchy branded headband as a Christmas present. My father Arto told me to call the gift giver and thank them for their kindness; and I did. Hannu asked me if I would join him on his motorhome safari to Karelia and I agreed to go. I am still on that journey…’ – Tanja Saarnio, Head of Touring Cars Motorhome Rental Franchise and Chairman of the Board adds. ‘The overall journey hasn’t always been a fairytale or sunshine with cocktails by the beach. We had to go through all kinds of measures and challenges to start our franchise operations and to become a strong, successful brand as we are today’.

In fact, behind every successful business, a creative entrepreneur stands firm. Mrs. Saarnio started her career in Touring Cars at an early age while still studying in university. Her interest was in the Russian market, as her grandparents were Karelian, and, therefore, she chose the language as her major while she was actively working for Touring Cars. Later on Tanja realised that she also needed some business skills and quickly enrolled in an MBA program and numerous courses that taught her different areas in business. Those studies helped her create a strong foundation for Touring Cars over the next decade.

Touring Cars’ former owner quickly realised Tanja’s outstanding skills. Thanks to her hard-work, strong dedication and creative mindset the company was thriving. Tanja was meant to take care of Touring Cars, it became her own child. Eventually in 1991, Mrs. Saarnio became a part owner and the Managing Director of the company and the world has never been the same after.

Touring Cars started to blossom and spread its seeds across Scandinavia. This time with a different concept and fresh idea. After carefully choosing the right partners with full allegiance, Touring Cars became the number one operator with a unique business model and concept.

Since then, Mrs. Tanja Saarnio has been known as one of the most remarkable franchise business owners in Finland and in Northern Europe.

The first business cooperation began immediately in 1985. Sweden was seen as a potential market for a combination of motorhome rental and holiday concept. That was a start for a flourishing operations in Stockholm. Within few years, the company also expanded into the Norwegian market (1989).

Over the following years, Touring Cars became like a family that provided `Good Feelings` motorhome rentals and the greatest holiday experiences with premium quality hospitality. The Touring Cars -concept formed its now famous meaning in 1999, but the foundation for it was created already in the 80’s!

As we begin this retrospective on the history and success of Touring Cars, it is only fitting to first acknowledge the individual who played the most significant role in the company’s journey and ultimately shaped its future, Hannu Kekäläinen the founder of Touring Cars. His visionary idea of renting motorhomes to foreigners made the story of Touring Cars, as you now know it, possible.

In the 1970’s Mr. Kekäläinen travelled to the United States of America to learn about the way Fiat automobiles were sold and marketed over there. During his trip to Florida, Mr. Kekäläinen discovered the growing popularity of motorhomes and recognised their potential in Finland. Inspired by this idea, he commissioned a workshop to build the first five motorhomes Finland has ever had. Four of those were sold to private buyers but Hannu decided to keep one. With that one motorhome, he launched Touring Cars in 1982, pioneering motorhome sales and rentals in the country.

In fact, the story of Touring Cars began under the name Northern Stars, when a renowned Hollywood actor rented what would become the company’s very first motorhome.

Hollywood legend Lee Marvin starred in the film Gorky Park, which was partly filmed in Helsinki. During production, the filmmakers needed a motorhome to serve as a dressing room and rest area for the lead actor. While such vehicles were commonplace in the United States, they were extremely rare in Finland, and throughout much of Europe, at the time. After an extensive search, a suitable motorhome was finally located in Kuopio, Eastern Finland, and rented for Mr. Marvin. It was the motorhome Hannu Kekäläinen had bought for himself, but after someone wanted to rent the vehicle, he saw a huge business opportunity. That single rental marked the beginning of what would eventually grow into Touring Cars motorhome rental business.

Over the years Mr. Kekäläinen developed the company’s philosophy towards our current one, where the real product is not the vehicle itself, but the freedom, joy, and memorable experiences it enables; captured perfectly in our slogan “Good Feelings.” 

Throughout his career, Mr. Kekäläinen embraced new opportunities, built international partnerships, and expanded the business despite challenges. He believes life is like a pinball machine: every encounter leaves a mark and can change one’s direction. His guiding principle is that enthusiasm is more powerful than any medicine. This passion for good feelings has always been at the heart of Touring Cars. From the very beginning, the company has been driven by a passion for vehicles, motorhomes, and, above all, exceptional customer service. This commitment has remained unchanged throughout the company’s history.