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Tags: Rental Cars / Cars / Avis / Hertz / → All Tags
Bye Bye, PT Cruiser: Imports Take The Rental Car Crown
Anytime we have to rent a car, we’re pretty certain that our keys will be used to unlock and operate a domestic vehicle, but for the first time ever, car rental companies are actually filling their fleets with more import autos. That means you’ve got a better chance of scoring something from outside the nifty fifty—for better or for worse.
According to numbers released by the trade rag Automotive Fleet, only 48.8 percent of new cars heading to the rental lot came from General Motors, Chrysler, or Ford. We didn’t take too many math classes in college, but we know that means more than 50 percent of rental cars now come from overseas. Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, and Nissan are just some of the new kids on the block—guess that means no more Pontiac G6s for us.
Tags: Rental Cars / Cars / Hertz / → All Tags
Hertz Cars Will Freshen Up Using New-Fangled, Odor-Busting Technology
Hopping into an odiferous rental car is never a great way to start a vacation. We already know that we’re stuck with older cars until the economy turns around, so the potential for getting a ripe car is pretty likely. Thankfully one rental company is looking to fix that funny smelling upholstery, and they’re doing a little more than just hanging an tree-shaped air freshener from the rear view mirror.
Hertz is going to use the latest technology offered by OMI Industries to introduce the Fresh Wave IAQ to maintain that new car scent in its vehicles. Best of all about this new rental car tech is that it's green, as all of the products used are derived from plant extracts. This way you won’t be exchanging the smell of old fast food for the smell of chemicals.
There’s no timeline as to when this magical new product will be cleaning up your next car, so for now you might want to check a bottle of Febreze in your luggage. However, Hertz is pretty excited about this new technology, because they do recognize that smelly cars are kept off the road and result in dissatisfied customers.
Related Stories: [Photo: XxSTRYKERxX]
· Hertz Tackles That Not-So-New Car Smell [WSJ]
· Do Any Rental Car Companies Trust 18-Year-Olds? [Jaunted]
· Cars coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Sweden Travel / Hertz / European Union / Cars / Rental Cars / Volvo / → All Tags
Thank Sweden For Making Volvo The Official Car of The EU
If you’re planning an official state visit to Sweden anytime soon, you’ll be happy to know you will be riding in style. At the beginning of the month, Sweden took over the presidency of the European Union, and one of their first acts was to name Volvo as the official vehicle of the EU.
Hello, efficiency: Volvo will coordinate everything through its marketing company, and will pass on the administration hassles for Hertz to deal with. And these cars transporting heads of state won’t be the typical boxy Volvo grocery-getter wagons either. They’re all part of the car company’s DRIVe program and offer low emissions and fuel consumption.
Now, instead of gas-guzzlers, the EU will be street-styling in flexible fuel vehicles that run on diesel and bioethanol. If you are sadly not a world leader headed to Sweden anytime soon, then of course you may instead go to your local Volvo dealer and pretend to be such. Or just catch a free ride during the UN climate change conference this winter in Copenhagen; Volvo will be strutting their green stuff there as well.
Related Stories: [Photo of a Volvo Helping Out a SAS plane: kjd]
· Volvo to be European Union's Official Car Starting July 1st [Automotive.com]
· IKEA Furniture Not For Sale in Stockholm Art Gallery [Jaunted]
· Sweden Travel coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Rental Cars / Hertz / Connect By Hertz / ZipCar / → All Tags
'Connect By Hertz': It's Like ZipCar But Without The Good Locations
With gas slowly creeping back up and unemployment at record levels, now could be a great time to dispose of your old clunker. You’ll laugh at your friends as they pay for gas, insurance, and repairs, while you enjoy the comfort and luxury of the city bus. We realize ditching your car isn’t practical for everyone, but if you do get rid of it, Hertz’s newest car sharing service may be of interest to you—especially if you can bypass its fees.
Connect by Hertz works a lot like Zipcar, but without all the good locations. So far they are in Manhattan—of course—as well as London and Paris. They just started late last year, so cut them some slack—it’s hard to play catch up when someone else has a strong grasp on the market. Like the competition, Hertz’s service will offer hourly rental cars any time you’d like as long as you pony up for the membership fee.
Tags: Rental Cars / Hertz / Enterprise / Dollar-Thrifty / → All Tags
Rental Round-Up: Losses, Crashes and a Freebie
While the Big Three groan, here's what's hurting the rental-car industry this week besides the humiliating PT Cruiser:
The economy, stupid. Dollar-Thrifty announced it lost $72.2 million in its fourth quarter last year, more than double its losses from the same time frame in 2007. CEO Scott Thompson blamed a slowdown in leisure travel and -- curiously -- a lack of credit preventing people from buying their retired cars at auctions.
Human frailty. Enterprise hasn't announced their quarterly results yet, but they're down at least one vehicle: A Long Island man rented a car while drunk to avoid the anti-DWI device installed in his own car, then -- duh -- crashed the car. Turns out that GPS can't steer you around everything, like your own stupidity.
A good deal! Now that you're saddened by the state of humanity, here's a deal for this weekend for Hertz: Use code 127595 to get a free day! Use it again in March (limit one redemption per month). We can't figure out if you can redeem it for just one day and no others, but we suspect not.
Related Stories:
· Dollar Thrifty Q4 loss wider than expected [Reuters]
· Enterprise Adding 5000 Hybrids, But Would You Rent One? [Jaunted]
· Cops: New York Man With Anti-DWI Device Crashes Rental Car While Intoxicated [Fox News]
· Free Hertz Weekend Day Car Rental [Walletpop]
· Hertz Offers Hourly Displeasure in Manhattan [Jaunted]
[Photo of humiliating rental cars in Hawaii: kanuck]
Tags: Car Rentals / Hertz / → All Tags
Hertz Offers Hourly Displeasure in Manhattan
Hertz has launched an hourly rental program at three of its Manhattan locations, becoming only the second major rental company to offer such an arrangement. Enterprise runs a similar pilot program in Chicago; Hertz's hourly competitor in NYC is Zipcar. Hourly rentals are available at three West Side locations (34th Street, 55th Street and 95th Street) at starting rates of $12 an hour.
Hourly renters must be members of Hertz's loyalty program, the Gold Club, which is free to join but requires a minimum member age of 25. So, those between 21 and 24 can only look to Zipcar for their hourly needs in NYC. According to Newsday, Hertz will expand the program if it proves successful in Manhattan.
[Photo: _e.t]
Related Stories:
· Hertz to 'test drive' hourly car rentals [Newsday]
· Hertz [Official Site]
· Zipcar [Official Site]
Tags: Airlines / Spirit Airlines / Hertz / Oscar De La Hoya / → All Tags
Airline Report: Spirit and Hertz So Happy Together
Spirit Airlines, home of the lav-friendly flight attendants, has teamed up with Hertz to offer frequent flyer miles as a reward for Hertz rentals. Members of Spirit's Free Spirit program can earn up to 1,500 miles and $20 in savings on Hertz reservations made through the end of 2006. Regardless of whether or not you "just had a fight with your partner" the morning of your rental.
Spirit is also up to more bizarre promotional antics again, although this time not quite as alienating: book today or tomorrow for fares "as low as $8," courtesy of an animated number 8 named Ocho De La Hoya. In this case, the only people really turned off by this are probably Oscar De La Hoya's array of babymamas.
[Photo: Nikolai Drjuchin]
Related Stories:
· Spirit Airlines' FFP partners with Hertz [The Wise Marketer]
· Spirit's Lav-Friendly Flight Attendants [Jaunted]
· Spirit Air Endorses Jeb Bush in $20.08 [Jaunted]
