Hertz heads to the suburbs

The Hertz Corporation has decided to embark on a campaign which will see the car rental giant expand into the suburbs of large and medium-sized American cities. The company already launched this effort earlier this year and has since then established 81 new suburban locations in the US. Hertz’s main goal is to tap into a potentially lucrative market; namely local clients, rather than tourists, who are looking to rent a car in order to serve as a replacement while their own vehicle is being repaired after a collision. Additionally, Hertz is now also trying to appeal to those who simply need to rent a car in order to run everyday errands.

This represents an important departure from Hertz’s previous strategy and strengths, which focused on serving businesspeople and-to a lesser extent-leisurely travellers much more heavily. In fact, Hertz had always been strongest among business customers, rather than tourists and locals, but this may now be about to change. Some of Hertz’s new local outlets have opened up in cities like Sedona (Arizona), Springfield (Ohio), Waco (Texas), Flemington (New Jersey) and Stillwater (Oklahoma).

Mark P. Frissora indicated that the off-airport car rental market is worth more than $10 billion per year and that Hertz is growing by double digits in this field. Frissora also observed that the rate of growth in this section of the car hire industry is happening at a much faster pace than growth at airports, which are faced with a possible slump in tourism.

www.hertz.com