Autoblog

Hertz pays $2.3B for Dollar Thrifty

George Kennedy — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:28:00 EST

Car rental giant Hertz is in the process of purchasing Dollar Thrifty. The deal is said to be for $2.3 billion, according to an Associated Press report. As a result, Dollar Thrifty stock increased by seven percent in trading before the market opened today.

According to the report, Hertz has been eying its rental car rival for two years now. Additionally, Avis Budget Group was also interested in purchasing Dollar Thrifty. Hertz made the move, though, at a price of $87.50 per share, representing an eight-percent premium over Friday's closing price for the stock of $81 per share.

In a statement, Hertz Chairman and CEO Mark P. Frissora said that the buyout will give his company two more well-known brands and make the company more competitive in Europe and other international markets.

While both parties have agreed to the deal, the Federal Trade Commission must approve the acquisition. According to the report, Hertz has maintained an open line of communication with the FTC throughout the process.

Hertz has roughly 8,650 locations of various types in 150 nations throughout the globe. Dollar Thrifty has about 280 locations in the U.S. and Canada and 1,300 franchise locations worldwide. The two corporations when combined fulfills Dollar Thrifty President and CEO Scott Thompson's assertion that the "transaction is not only compelling for stockholders, but also will help broaden its reach." In addition, the deal is also projected to save Hertz $160 million each year.

Hertz pays $2.3B for Dollar Thrifty originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

3 of 4 major rental car outfits won't pledge not to rent or sell recalled vehicles

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:59:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety

In 2004, Raechel and Jackie Houck were killed when they were in a fiery accident in the 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser they had rented from Enterprise. The girls' mother, Cally Houck, sued Enterprise when it was discovered that their Chrysler was the subject of a recall to repair a power steering hose leak over a potential fire issue, yet the car hadn't been reparied before it was rented. The five-year trial concluded in 2010, with Enterprise admitting negligence, at which point it was ordered by a jury to pay $15 million in damages.

That hasn't stopped Cally Houck from campaigning. There is no law that requires rental car companies to repair recalled cars before they are rented or sold; companies have their own policies about how recalls are handled, but as one Enterprise manager testified during the Houck trial, getting cars repaired is balanced with getting cars rented. A report in the The Detroit News offered conflicting data about how quickly cars are repaired, but the real issue is that even if, as Enterprise says, "90 percent of recalled vehicles have completed or required inspections within 30 days," those cars might still be in the rental pool during those thirty days.

Senators Barbara Boxer (D) and Charles Schumer (D) are working to change that, having introduced rental car legislation last July called the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, but nothing has come of it yet. Rental car companies were asked to sign a pledge not to rent or sell vehicles that hadn't been repaired, but only Hertz signed; neither Enterprise (which owns Enterprise, National and Alamo) nor Dollar/Thrifty would sign, with Enterprise writing its own letter saying that it wouldn't do so and Dollar/Thrifty saying it would fix cars "as soon as practically possible." Boxer has made it clear that she will continue pushing for federal legislation.

3 of 4 major rental car outfits won't pledge not to rent or sell recalled vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rental car fuel tops $9/gallon in U.S.

Chris Shunk — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:29:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

It's never a good idea to return a rental car with less than a full tank of gas. The reason? The rental car companies usually charge a fee if you don't fill up before dropping off. And according to a report in USA Today, that fee has, in some cases, gotten a lot steeper.

The national newspaper polled 102 rental companies at 13 major airports to gauge how much is being charged per gallon for renters who don't fill up before returning their loaner. Surprisingly, 54 of those airports were charging less than the average fuel price at local stations, likely because many companies haven't adjusted their per-gallon charge to reflect rising gas prices. Another 43 rental stores were charging more than the average gas station.

Meanwhile, the Hertz rental company is in a league of its own. The USA Today poll shows that the rental giant was charging $9.29 per gallon of petrol at 13 locations. Dollar and Thrifty weren't far behind at a pair of locations, with a price of $8.99/gal. For perspective, at $9/gal, it would take around $275 to fill up the typical full-size pickup, and about $110 to top off a Ford Focus.

While those are some ridiculous pump prices, this is one instance when the punishment is nearly 100 percent avoidable. After all, if you don't want to get slapped with a $9.29/gal bill, all you need to do is fill up before dropping off the vehicle. Unfortunately, you're still going to pay well over $4/gal in most areas.

Rental car fuel tops $9/gallon in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 May 2011 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Report: Fed opens probe into rental car recall procedures

Steven J. Ewing — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:58:00 EST

Filed under: Recalls, Safety

According to a report from The Detroit News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into how quickly rental car companies repair vehicles affected by recalls. The process is simple for individual consumers - receive a recall notice, schedule an appointment with a dealership, bada-bing, bada-boom, fixed - but when it comes to the fleets of vehicles parked on rental lots, it's a much larger ordeal.

The obvious answer, according to Sharon Faulkner, executive director of the American Car Rental Association, is, "You pull those cars and you park them." Seems simple enough, but in speaking with The Detroit News, Faulkner cites that there is no law requiring rental car companies to fix vehicles before they are brought back into service. What's more, by putting large amounts of vehicles out of service, rental companies can lose money by turning away customers due to low inventory numbers.

NHTSA says that its investigation will look into "recall remedy completion by rental car companies," focusing on nearly three million vehicles from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. This investigation covers 29 different models built between 2000 and 2010, and NHTSA says it chooses to focus on the American automakers because they make up a large percentage of rental fleets. Head over to The Detroit News to read the full report.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: cloudsoup via Flickr]

Report: Fed opens probe into rental car recall procedures originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Video: Report compares rental cars to public restrooms

Steven J. Ewing — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:27:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Videos

Just how clean are rental cars? - Click above to watch the video after the jump

Rental cars don't have easy lives. They can be abused and flogged by nearly anyone who wants one, and most of the people who drive these vehicles have the "it's not my car - who cares" mentality. However, a new study from the folks at The Today Show takes a deeper look into the overall cleanliness of these vehicles, pointing out some really interesting facts about the levels of bacteria found on the most commonly touched surfaces (steering wheel, gear shift, door handles, etc.).

The results are slightly shocking, and true as they may be, we find it a little odd that the reporters have compared the sanitary levels of these cars to that of a public restroom. We'll agree that it's absolutely unacceptable to find food crumbs, sticky messes, and even vomit (yes, vomit) in a ready-for-duty rental car, but we must remember that sharing germs is an inherit risk when you use anything that's moved around to hundreds of people each year. It's an interesting study nonetheless, and you can see the full details for yourself by watching the video after the jump.

[Source: MSNBC]

Continue reading Video: Report compares rental cars to public restrooms

Video: Report compares rental cars to public restrooms originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

REPORT: Dollar Thrifty to cut percentage of Chrysler products from as much as 76% to 30%

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:58:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, known in the retail world as Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, will be buying about 40,000 fewer Chryslers than it did last year. Previously, the company was contractually bound to ensure that 75% of its fleet was composed of Chrysler vehicles. After the bankruptcy kerfuffle, the contract has been revised to compel Dollar Thrifty to purchase a new minimum number of vehicles, and the company is using the freedom to increase its model mix.

Instead of being so Pentastar-heavy, from now on, Reuters says that Dollar Thrifty's fleet figures to be 30% Chrysler, 34% Ford, 20% General Motors, 6% Nissan, and 10% left over for Hyundai and Kia. The model mix transition should also help Dollar Thrifty stabilize the income from fleet sales; the company took a beating when the residuals market took a dump, especially due to the fact that it was trying to flog so many products from a company thought to have a dubious future.

All three domestics have talked about getting away from low-margin fleet buyers for some time now. Still, the 40,000 hit to Chrysler's sales still probably isn't the best of news - Chrysler didn't want to get this far away from fleets.

[Source: Reuters]

REPORT: Dollar Thrifty to cut percentage of Chrysler products from as much as 76% to 30% originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Daimler's Car2Go program coming to Austin, Texas this fall

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Budget, Hatchback, Daimler, Smart, Lifestyle

Last October we advised you not to hold your breath for Daimler's Car2Go program to come to America. You can breathe again. If you live in Austin, Texas you'll be able to rent a mild hybrid Smart ForTwo by the minute this fall. Austin was chosen because of its university population and its concern for the environment.

Car2Go makes its fleet available on-demand, with a clear price structure, and you can keep the car as long as you wish. Those in the program access the vehicles by swiping a tag on their driver's licenses over a card reader on the car. As with the pilot program in Ulm, Germany the service will start in Austin with an initial fleet, expected to consist of around 200 Smarts that will be available to city employees first and then expand to public use at the conclusion of a trial period.

Gallery: smart fortwo in Texas and Germany

[Source: Canadian Driver]

Daimler's Car2Go program coming to Austin, Texas this fall originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

What actually sells: Fleet sales for first half of 2007

John Neff — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:02:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials

Automakers often report their sales figures in whatever way makes them look most positive, and for a long time including fleet sales has been an effective way to make a slow selling vehicle look more popular with consumers on paper. Automakers don't distinguish between fleet and retail when reporting their sales, so we've been forced to believe them recently when we've been told that fleet sales are being reduced. General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group have all claimed that reducing fleet sales is a component of each company's respective turnaround plan, but we've found a document that suggests they're still way behind Toyota and Honda when it comes to resisting the easy route to higher sales.

These PDF documents from fleet-central.com, which we've converted to images and included below in a handy gallery, report in detail the percentage of sales sold to fleet operators in the first half of 2007. It's broken down by both vehicle segment and specific models, which allows us to pinpoint exactly which depend more on fleet sales than others.

Let's dive right in and pick out some of the more interesting numbers that you may be curious to know.

Subcompacts: (fleet) 149,766 | (retail) 825,697 | (total) 975,463 | (% fleet) 15.4%
Chevrolet Cobalt: 29,090 | 44,141 | 73,231 | 39.7%
Ford Focus: 19,660 | 54,621 | 74,281 | 26.5%
Toyota Corolla 22,999 | 121,348 | 144,347 | 15.9%
Honda Civic: 2,817 | 128,113 | 130,930 | 2.2%

VERDICT: Not surprising: While the Focus is older than the Cobalt, it enjoys a smaller percentage of fleet sales. The Corolla has a lot of fleet sales, but its retail sales are so large that its percentage of fleet sales is relatively small. The Civic's retail sales are higher than the Corolla's, however, which means that it is actually the real best-selling subcompact.

More segments after the jump! All the numbers can be viewed in the gallery below.

UPDATE: Fleet sales for trucks, minivans and SUVs added to the gallery.

[Source: fleet-central.com via AutoSpies]

Gallery: Fleet Sales - first half 2007

Continue reading What actually sells: Fleet sales for first half of 2007

What actually sells: Fleet sales for first half of 2007 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments