Hertz enters car sharing business

Hertz, one of the most widely recognized names in the car rental industry, has reportedly decided to enter the increasingly popular and lucrative car sharing market with all of its strength. Car sharing, best represented by companies like Zipcar, allows budget-minded or environmentally-conscious urbanites to give up owning several personal cars, or even jettison their single vehicle altogether, in favour of renting by the hour, whenever a vehicle is needed to run errands-like weekly or monthly grocery shopping-and attending special events. Car sharing schemes allow registered members to reserve their hourly rental online and then simply collect their vehicle, found at specific street corners, parking lots or other public places.

Hertz is certainly no stranger to hourly rentals. The car hire giant has been testing its fortunes in this field for some time now, and we have reported on their efforts in the past. The difference, however, is that this time Hertz plans on launching a massive campaign and possible even a subsidiary brand, in order to compete more directly with pioneers, such as Zipcar. Rich Broome, Hertz’s senior vice president, told journalists that during the initial period, the company would concentrate on offering car sharing services in a handful of major US cities. Later, Hertz would likely expand this part of its business to include intermediate sized urban centres, like Boston.

www.hertz.com