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30 Jun 2011
Hertz Again Official RAC for Wimbledon
LONDON, Jun 21, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The Hertz Corporation,
the world's largest general use car rental brand, is again the
official transport supplier for The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships
for the 17th year in a row. Over the two weeks of the world-renowned
tournament, Hertz is providing rides to tennis stars, coaches
and officials in livery featuring the strap-line "Driving
the Champions."
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29 Jun 2011
DTAG Extends Expedia Relationship
TULSA, Okla. and BELLEVUE, Wash., June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire via
COMTEX/ -- Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. announced it
has extended its relationship with Expedia, Inc., the world's
largest online travel company. Under the long-term agreement,
Expedia.com, Hotwire.com and Carrentals.com will continue to offer
Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental as preferred car rental
brands.
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28 Jun 2011
Market Snapshots of Japan and Australia
Established in 1965, MAZDA Car Rental Corp. was sold by Mazda
Motor Corp. in 2004 to an investment company, which in turn sold
it to Park24 Co., Ltd., a publicly traded car park company on
the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This year, Park24 transferred the car
sharing operation to Times 24 Co., Ltd., a new subsidiary. Park24
also changed the official name of MAZDA Car Rental Corp. to Times
Mobility Networks Co., Ltd. (TMN) though the car rental service
continues to use the brand name MAZDA Rent-A-Car.
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27 June 2011
A New Approach to the Hiring Process
Behavioral and situational interviewing techniques reveal how
potential employees would handle future work situations. Interpreting
the answers will give you a better gauge of a candidate’s
true worth in your company.
What don't we have enough of? Time and money are two things that
come to mind. In business, when we don't hire the right people
for the job, we've wasted both.
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26 June 2011
Car Rental Q&A
Q
What are some non-traditional signs or indicators that business
is beginning to pick up?
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25 June 2011
Rental Car Supply: Silver Lining, or Dark Cloud?
The used car market is enjoying historic pricing — but
can you take advantage, and how long will it last?
The summer season is in full swing and you're ready to rent cars
- but have you seen that used car market? Auction prices are higher
than ever and dealers are scrambling for low-mileage used units
- the cars you're renting right now.
It's the perfect car rental Catch-22: You're sitting on gold,
yet you can't cash in because replacing your current fleet with
new inventory is a questionable proposition at best. So what are
car rental companies doing? And how long will this last?
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24 June 2011
Zipcar Launches Service in Providence
Zipcar has expanded into Providence, R.I. The company's new car
sharing program will provide a number of vehicles to residents,
city employees, visitors, students, and businesses.
Zipcar said it plans to offer vehicles including the Honda Civic,
Toyota Prius, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Matrix, Scion xB, and Honda
Insight, among others. The company said vehicles will be available
throughout the City and near local university campuses.
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23 June 2011
Google Purchasing EVs for ‘Gfleet’ Corporate Car
Sharing Program
Google plans to purchase a total of 30 electric vehicles for
its "Gfleet" corporate car-sharing program for employees.
The company is purchasing Chevrolet Volts and Nissan LEAFs for
the Gfleet and plans to add EVs from other automakers as they
become available. Shown above is a video from the company's blog
that was posted (appropriately) on YouTube.
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22 June 2011
Fitch: Avis
Budget Group's Acquisition of Avis Europe Does Not Affect Ratings
The credit
ratings of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (ABG) and Avis Budget Car,
Rental, LLC (ABC) are not affected by the proposed acquisition
of Avis Europe, according to Fitch Ratings. Fitch currently rates
ABG and ABC's long-term Issuer Default Ratings 'B+' with a Stable
Rating Outlook. Given the shared heritage, branding and infrastructure,
Fitch believes the acquisition is a good and complementary strategic
fit, strengthens the company's competitive position within the
sector and adds diversity to the revenue stream. Also, Fitch thinks
integration risks do not represent a material concern and views
ABG's $30 million in estimated cost synergies as reasonable and
achievable.
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21 June
2011
Legal Challenge
Against Paris’ Low-Cost EV Program
The car rental
industry in Paris is presenting a legal challenge against a city
plan to provide cheap, "help yourself" electric cars for residents
and tourists, according to The Independent. The Autolib electric
cars are based on the city's successful bicycle self-hire operation,
and that operation inspired a similar program in London.
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20 June 2011
Rental Car Employee Returns $50,000 of Jewelry to Customer
A woman traveling with her husband hid $50,000 of jewelry in their
rental car for safe keeping, according to The Canadian Press. When
the car was returned to the rental agency, the woman forgot about
the jewelry. She frantically called later and advised customer service
representative Nicole Kiatipis of the situation. Read
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19 June 2011
Wholesale Prices Back Off Near-record Levels
What follows is the May 2011 Kontos Kommentary on current used vehicle
market conditions, presented by Adesa's chief economist Tom Kontos:
Summary
Average wholesale prices softened modestly in May but remained
at near-record levels. This is as expected, considering average
used vehicle prices at retail are approaching 60% of average new
vehicle prices, and as the spring market gives way to typically
milder prices in the summer.
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18 June 2011
KBB: Fuel-efficient Values Have Peaked
Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car
and used car information, today reports that after increasing
close to 25 percent throughout 20 weeks of consecutive gains,
values for fuel-efficient used vehicles have now peaked. For the
first time since January, values for subcompact, compact and hybrid
cars have started to decline in response to falling gas prices.
In fact, Kelley Blue Book analysts currently see values for some
of these vehicles dip into the red for the first time since January.
The majority of strength this year has been driven by the rapid
rise in gas prices, which peaked in May with a national average
of $3.98, and since has declined steadily to $3.71 today.
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17 June 2011
Avis Budget Group to Buy Avis Europe
Avis Budget Group, Inc. and Avis Europe plc announced today that
they have reached agreement on the terms of the acquisition by
Avis Budget of all outstanding shares of Avis Europe in exchange
for £3.15 in cash per Avis Europe share. The acquisition
is scheduled to close in October 2011, subject to Avis Europe
shareholder approval, court approval and regulatory clearances,
according to a press statement.
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16 June 2011
Car Rental Agency Helps Joplin Residents After Tornado Destruction
Growing up in the heart of tornado alley, Jeff Neuenschwander,
an Avis licensee serving Southwest Missouri, had been through
it all before - but not like this one. The tornado that hit Joplin
on Sunday, May 22 was classified as an F5 (out of 5) on the Fujita
Tornado Intensity Scale. This is the most devastating tornado
in the country since 1947.
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15 June 2011
Enterprise
Holdings Contacting More Than 4,000 Local Governments About Car
Rental Customers’ Traffic Fines
In an effort
to help address outstanding fines for traffic, parking and toll
violations by car rental customers, Enterprise Holdings has once
again notified more than 4,000 local governments and submitted
the company's contact information as part of the public record.
Enterprise Holdings, through its regional subsidiaries, operates
the Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental
brands.
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14 June 2011
Oregon Residents
Join Peer-to-peer Car Sharing
According
to The Register-Guard, current laws in Oregon allow residents
to rent out their vehicles to other people, but if the renter
gets into an accident, the owner's insurance rates increase.
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13 June 2011
Hertz Introduces
Electric Bikes in London
London, UK
- Hertz has now become the first major car rental company to offer
electric bicycles for rental, with the introduction of Ultra Motor
electric bicycles to London (www.hertz.co.uk/electricbikes). Visitors
and residents alike can now explore the capital by electric cycling
with the fun Fast4ward Edge and A2B Hybrid 24 models, at up to
speeds of 15.5mph.
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12 June 2011
DTAG Recommends
Shareholders Take No Action Regarding Hertz Exchange Offer
Dollar Thrifty
Automotive Group, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors
unanimously recommends that Dollar Thrifty shareholders not tender
their shares pursuant to Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.'s offer to
acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Dollar
Thrifty for a price of $72.00 per Dollar Thrifty share, consisting
of $57.60 in cash and 0.8546 shares of Hertz common stock.
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11/Jun/2011
AOL Releases
a Study on Leisure Travelers
Project 85,
a new study from AOL, Mandala Research and Solutionz Consulting,
shows that 85% of travelers are leisure travelers who choose to
drive to their destination. This group is projected to spend $171
billion on trips each year.
Read More
10/Jun/2011
CNBC Report:
Avis Hears from FTC
CNBC's David
Faber reported yesterday that Avis Budget Group has finally received
specifics from the Federal Trade Commission regarding divestitures
to move ahead with any purchase of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
Faber reported that "people familiar with the situation" believe
that Avis' concessions to make the merger happen are "manageable.
"
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09/Jun/2011
CarTrawler and Travel Booster Sign Cooperation Agreement
CarTrawler, the Car Rental Distribution System with over 550 suppliers
in 175 countries, and Galor Systems, developer of web-based travel
management system Travel Booster announced a cooperation agreement
today. Through the interface with Travel Booster, CarTrawler will
now distribute its full content to all members of the Travel Booster
network. Travel Booster users will benefit from the largest selection
of car rental options from leading and independent car rental suppliers
worldwide, in 29 languages and multiple currencies.
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08/Jun/2011
CarTrawler and Travel Booster Sign Cooperation Agreement
National Car Rental announced today the addition of a fully operational
"Emerald Aisle" service location at the National facility
located at the Jacksonville International Airport. The "Emerald
Aisle" is an exclusive section of National's rental car area
where its Emerald Club members can select any vehicle after simply
reserving a mid-sized car. National Car Rental has been operating
at the Jacksonville airport for more than 20 years.
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07/Jun/2011
Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall of Prius Models
Toyota announced a recall of 52,000 2001-2003-MY Prius vehicles
sold in the U.S. to replace the electric power steering pinion shaft
attachment nuts. Toyota said if the steering wheel is repeatedly
and "strongly turned" to the full-lock position, the nuts
securing the pinion shaft in the steering gear box assembly can
become loose. Over time a driver will notice it requires more effort
to steer when making a left turn.
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06/Jun/2011
Cars for Tweets?
Exotic car rental company Indulgence Auto Rental of Los Angeles
has an offer for celebrities that they may not be able to refuse.
Celebrities "who are influential and have a large number of
followers on Twitter" are invited by Indulgence Auto Rental
to rent a car in exchange for a Tweet about the company and their
services. To take advantage of this offer the celebrity first has
to contact the company to see if they qualify.
Read More
05/Jun/2011
Minn. Passes Rental
Car Anti-steering Law
The Minnesota Legislature has passed a bill, SF 508, that will allow
Minnesota consumers involved in an automobile accident to choose
their rental vendor as a source of a temporary replacement vehicle.
The legislation has the following main sections:
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04/Jun/2011
Diplomatic Immunity May Get Russian Official Out of Rental Repair
Bill
After he allegedly drove a rental car into a river, a Russian
diplomat has claimed immunity after a court declared him bankrupt
for refusing to pay an almost $10,000 car repair bill on the car,
according to the New Zealand Herald.
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03/Jun/2011
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Predicts Heavy Holiday Road Travel
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to the summer travel
season, and this year, the forecast is sunny -- at least when
it comes to driving vacations. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, North America's
largest rental car brand, has announced it has seen more than
a 20 percent increase over last year in car rental reservations
at neighborhood locations.
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02/Jun/2011
Hertz Introduces EVs to D.C. Fleet
The Hertz Corporation announced the expansion of its Global EV
initiative to Washington, D.C., adding all electric (EVs) and
plug-in hybrid electric (PHEVs) vehicles, including the Chevy
Volt and Nissan LEAF to its Union Station fleet. Hertz is making
the next generation of electric vehicles available to members
of Congress, employees on the Hill, and the general public through
its car sharing operation and, starting today, drivers can go
to the Hertz location at Union Station or visit www.connectbyhertz.com
to be among the first to try an EV.
The EV and PHEV Hertz fleet in Washington, D.C. will serve a
testing ground for consumers as automakers ramp up production
to achieve the goal of becoming the first country to have 1 million
EVs on the road by 2015. The first vehicles will be located at
Union Station, blocks from Capitol Hill and ideal for visitors
commuting to the city for work or play.
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01/Jun/2011
Hertz Commences Exchange Offer for Dollar Thrifty
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. announced yesterday that it has commenced
the previously announced exchange offer for all outstanding shares
of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. Hertz is offering to
exchange each share of Dollar Thrifty for $57.60 in cash and 0.8546
shares of Hertz.
Hertz and Dollar Thrifty are continuing to cooperate to obtain
antitrust regulatory clearance for the exchange offer.
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