Archive for the ‘Car Rental News’ Category
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Leading car hire firm, Avis Rent A Car, has confirmed that customers will soon be able to book and drive away in MG Motor UK’s brand new MG6 models. The company announced that it has already taken delivery of 100 MG6 Magnette sports saloons, and MG6 GT fastbacks. Once the models are introduced to fleets around the UK they will be available for hire for journeys including leisure and business trips.
Avis Rent A Car’s commercial director, Anthony Ainsworth, said it was extremely exciting to have the classic marquee back in the fleet again. He added that he was sure that customers would be equally delighted to be able to drive away in such an iconic brand.
The vehicles are designed and engineered in Birmingham, and final assembly also takes place at the MG Motors plant. The MG6 Magnette, and the MG6 GT fastback, are designed to offer space and comfort. As many as five adults can enjoy the experience of MG’s legendary driving dynamics. Each of the models packs an impressive 1.8-litre turbo charged engine.
Sales and marketing director for MG Motor UK, Guy Jones, said the company was pleased to be able to introduce the new MG6 to motorists through such a well known name as Avis.
Those who come away from the experience wishing to own their own model will be pleased to see that, in its class, the MG6 has the lowest insurance rating. Other features are a good size boot, excellent chassis dynamics, and high standard specification levels.
Tags: Avis, car hire, MG6, MG6 GT, MG6 Magnette
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
The threat of severe winter weather, Tube strikes and engineering work across the rail networks, has caused Sixt UK to experience a large increase in the number of enquires being made for cars over the festive season. In London, bookings have shot up by 38 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Boss of Sixt UK, Paul McLoughlin, said it was an extremely frustrating time of year for travellers trying to get home to be with their families for Christmas. He explained that poor weather, a raft of engineering work, and the threat of strike action meant that more people were seeking the assurance of having a car to use.
Midland, West Coast and Great Western have all announced engineering works over Christmas and the New Year. A strike by workers on the London Underground on Boxing Day will just add to the misery of those trying to get out of the capital. Travellers are being warned that a number of train lines will stop services at 5pm in Christmas Eve, and will not resume services until after Boxing Day.
Sixt said that the demand was particularly high for larger vehicles including the Volvo 350, BMW 3 Series and VW Touran as forecasters warn that severe weather could strike many areas of the UK.
McLoughlin said that although Sixt had been prepared for a spike in seasonal calls, the company had been a little surprised by the sheer number of enquires, adding that phones really were literally ringing off the hook.
Tags: bmw, Christmas, London Underground, Sixt, travel, Volvo, VW
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Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
As the festive season approaches, Carrentals.co.uk, the country’s premier car hire comparison site, is launching ’12 Days of Christmas’, a competition which will see 13 lucky winners walk away with a range of quality prizes. As well as a prize a day, the website will be celebrating Christmas by conducting a prize draw for everybody who has entered on 24 December. The winner will receive an iPad 2.
Among the prizes which will be given away as of 12 December is a vineyard tasting and tour, a pair of tickets for a ride on the London Eye and Amazon vouchers. The combined cost of all the prizes is to be donated to StreetSmart, a homeless charity which helps other charities in a number of major cities across the UK.
Carrentals.co.uk’s managing director Gareth Robinson said: “We have some great Christmas gifts to give away this year – it’s up to the winners whether they keep them or give them to friends or family on Christmas Day! ”
He added: “But we also wanted to give something to help the thousands of homeless people who can find it particularly hard at this time of year. StreetSmart helps many of the smaller homeless charities across the UK whose work is vital, and we hope our Christmas campaign will go some way in helping provide a range of support.”
Those wishing to take part in the competition need to visit the Carrentals.co.uk website where they will be given a clue to the whereabouts of a hidden snowman. Once the snowman is found, entrants can send the URL of the location for a chance to win.
Tags: Amazon, car hire, carrentals.co.uk, charity, Christmas, iPad 2, london eye, StreetSmart
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Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
The annual Road Sense safety campaign has officially been announced by leading car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk, and Brake, the road charity. Each year a particular theme is chosen, and this year the campaign will focus on making drivers aware of how important it is to keep tyres and brakes in good condition. The message is particularly apposite as the winter weather starts to become increasingly poor.
Managing director of the website, Gareth Robinson, pointed out that: “During the winter, when UK roads are icy and dangerous, we want people to be sure to get their tyres and brakes inspected. By doing so we can all help to have a positive impact on the number of accidents on UK roads this year.”
Brake is particularly concerned about the number of younger people who are being killed or badly injured on the roads because of unnecessary accidents. The charity claims that one in four involve people under the age of 25, even though only one in eight of drivers on the UK roads are below this age.
Brake’s director, Katie Shepherd, said: “It is an honour to partner with Carrentals.co.uk this year on the new Road Sense campaign. With Road Safety Week taking place in the UK Brake wants to encourage people to consider the safety of other road users, get their cars checked out regularly and to ‘have a heart at the wheel’.”
Mr Robinson added: “Drivers should listen to safety specialists like Brake – and our Road Sense campaign has a goal of pulling everyone together to help raise awareness of key issues and lower the number of serious accidents on UK roads.”
Tags: brake, car hire, carrentals.co.uk, Road Safety Week, Road Sense
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Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Dollar Thrifty has refused a bid by US rival Hertz for a takeover, but board members say that they are still willing to consider renewed offers from the larger car hire firm or other companies. The budget vehicle rental provider has been involved in an 18 month acquisition battle between Avis and Hertz, in which neither has been able to persuade antitrust authorities that absorption of the smaller firm will not harm competition.
Scott Thompson, chief executive of Dollar, said it was now time to look forward to developing the firm as a stand alone company and is planning to buy back a total of $400 million in shares over a time span of four quarters.
Avis pulled out of the challenge for Dollar after it decided to invest in a takeover of its counterpart in Europe. Hertz said in September last year that it was making its final offer for Dollar. Dollar rejected the bid and Hertz introduced a renewed $1.92 offer in May of this year. However, the firm said that the price still undervalued the value of its stocks.
Hertz has said that it will be selling its Advantage brand in order to convince the antitrust bodies that a purchase of Hertz will not harm competition in the American market. At present, there are only four major rental brands in the US. The largest is Enterprise, followed by Hertz, Avis and Dollar.
Shares in Dollar fell in price recently, whereas Hertz’s stock value has risen.
Tags: Avis, car rental, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011
Avis has withdrawn its bid for budget rival Dollar Thrifty, bringing to an end the long-running battle for control of the car hire firm with Hertz. The company said that its decision to pull out was because current market conditions were unfavourable. Hertz has not yet made an official comment, but has said that it will continue to seek approval for a takeover from the Federal Trade Commission.
Competition regulators are concerned that further consolidation of the US car rental market may have a negative effect on the consumer. At present just four companies control around 95 per cent of the market: Hertz, Avis, Dollar and Enterprise. According to industry expert, Neil Abrams, Dollar is still an attractive proposition for an international buyer.
One of the reasons for Avis quitting the race for Dollar could be that it is concentrating on securing finance for the purchase of its European counterpart. The deal is worth £636 million.
Both Hertz and Avis have been keen to control Dollar because it would give them greater access to the leisure market. The firms currently generate most of their revenue through corporate customers. Dollar Thrifty has a 13 per cent share of the US airport car hire market and relies on customers choosing a cheap deal rather than the more modern vehicle.
Mr Abrams said that even though the global financial situation remained weak, the market for car hire was still strong. Shares in Hertz have risen in value by 11 per cent after news broke that Avis is not going to pursue Dollar.
Tags: Avis, car hire, dollar thrifty, Enterprise, Federal Trade Commission, Hertz
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Monday, August 22nd, 2011
The long running battle between car rental firms Avis and Hertz for control of smaller rival Dollar Thrifty could soon be over as a letter asking for best bids is sent out to the heads of both companies by Scott Thompson, Dollar’s chief executive. He said the continuing uncertainty was not in the best interests of anyone.
The bids are due at the beginning of October, and Thompson said it was unlikely that he would consider an offer which paced the interests of Dollar’s shareholders at risk because of antitrust investigations. Avis is currently waiting to see if its offer for Dollar will be given the approval of the regulators. Hertz has been asked to supply the Federal Trade Commission with additional information on its proposal.
In May, Hertz increased its bid for Dollar by 30 per cent to $2.1 billion. The figure is significantly higher than Avis’ offer of $1.7 billion. Doubts have been raised by analysts as to whether Avis will increase the offer because the company has just spent around $1 billion acquiring its namesake in Europe.
There are presently four car rental companies dominating the US market: Hertz, Avis, Dollar and Enterprise. This has led to concerns over whether further consolidation will significantly harm competition.
Dollar recently published its results for the second-quarter which were down on analysts’ predictions. Thompson said the company was looking forward to strong performance through 2012 and that a resolution of the situation with Avis and Hertz was a top priority.
Tags: Avis, car rental, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz
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Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Car manufacturer BMW intends to spread its Munich based car-sharing programme to cities throughout Europe including the UK. The scheme is a partnership between BMW and car rental firm Sixt. BMW has supplied 300 vehicles, which are positioned in various locations throughout Munich, and Sixt takes care of logistics and the customer database.
Members of the initiative are given keyless access to the vehicles which they can locate via a smartphone application. After typing in a PIN, the car is activated and the driver is free to take it around the city for around 25p per minute. All charges are made to the customer’s credit card.
The vehicles are tracked using satellite technology and a refuelling team makes sure that the cars have full tanks of petrol. Tony Douglas, from BMW’s mobility services, said the initiative had been working well and the scheme would now be introduced to Berlin. He added that BMW was also currently discussing making the service available to customers in other major European cities including Manchester, Birmingham and London.
BMW has also announced that it will be investing in UK-based website ParkatmyHouse.com. The site allows drivers to get in contact with homeowners who have registered their private parking spaces, garages and driveways as places where motorists can securely drop off their vehicles for a fee.
BMW has a fund set aside for investment in mobility services which includes My City Way, a New York based scheme, which uses traffic cameras to work out the ideal route around the city for drivers.
Tags: bmw, car rental, car sharing, mobility services, My City Way, ParkatmyHouse.com, Sixt
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Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Avis Budget, the third largest car rental firm in the US, has announced its intention to reunite with Avis Europe in a deal worth $1 billion. The acquisition has received the blessing of D’Ieteren, the Belgian-based car dealership which owns 60 per cent of Avis Europe. The American company is offering 315 pence per share.
Chief executive of Avis Europe, Pascal Bazin, said the deal would mean a stronger global presence for Avis and that this would be to the advantage of the car hire company’s customers. He added that it also provided the opportunity for growth in the future through strategic advantages as well as greater access to capital. Mr Bazin pointed out that one of the main challenges for car rental firms at the moment was the need to grow their fleets.
He went onto say that along with a stronger worldwide presence the deal would mean better brand development within Europe. Avis purchased a share in its European counterpart in 1989 along with GM and D’Ieteren. However, this was then floated in London in 1997.
According to Avis Budget, the acquisition will produce savings of around $30 million per year. The company will operate around the globe in more than 150 countries and is expected to generate $7 billion worth of sales.
Avis is currently locking horns with rival Hertz in the US over the possible takeover of budget car hire firm Dollar Thrifty. The battle has been going on for over a year and both firms are still awaiting approval from competition regulators.
Tags: Avis, Avis Budget, Avis Europe, car hire, car rental, D'Ieteren, dollar thrifty, GM, Hertz
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Friday, June 10th, 2011
A group representing major car hire firms has introduced a legal challenge against the Autolib’ electric car rental scheme due to roll out in Paris by the end of the year. Companies including Hertz and Avis are claiming that the programme has received public subsidies and has been unfairly backed by city hall.
The last-minute challenge has been made to a tribunal which deals with situations when the action of public bodies is called into question. It will now have to decide whether to amend or abolish the scheme in its current form. Paris is expecting to see hundreds of the new Velib’ cars hit the streets in December.
The electric cars are already being manufactured in Turin. They will seat four people, are about the size of a mini and will cover around 250km after receiving a full-charge. Paris residents will be able to pick up a car at a number of stations around the city and drive it for 30 minutes for just €5. Visitors to the French capital will be charged €7.
Like the successful Velib’ bike rental scheme, the Autolib’ vehicles are a way of offering cheap, green car hire for city journeys. There is an additional charge to join the scheme. Daily membership will cost €10, a week will be charged at €15 and annual membership is €144.
The small blue cars will be equipped with GPS, a computer which will tell drivers where they can find a free docking station and a radio. A decision over the challenge will need to be made within a few weeks.
Tags: Autolib, Avis, car hire, car rental, electric car, GPS, Hertz, Velib
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