Every industry has a unique story and the car rental world makes no exception. This type of business confused with the history of car series production in and started in the United States after World War One.
John Saunders is the pioneer of car rental. He began by renting his own car, Ford T, which is also the first series produced car in Detroit, Michigan. Saunders has rented cars especially to business people who transited his town and needed a trip in a shorter time. Sensing the possibility of bigger gains, he started to invest money in purchasing other cars that were offered for rent. By 1925, American entrepreneur had over 21 car rental points in American cities, unconfirmed reports saying that Saunders had reached a turnover of $ 1 million, an impressive figure at the time.
Contemporary with John Saunders, Walter L. Jacobs has developed in parallel its own car rental service, offering as his competitor, Ford T models to be rented. By 1923 Jacobs becamed Saunders's main competitor, with many outlets in the U.S..
Walter Jacobs had to meet Chicago antrepreneur, John Hertz, the owner of a factory which produced cars to be used as taxis, the Yelow Cabs, famous in the American cities in the early twenty century. Hertz car rental industry has developed across the U.S., reaching to sell the car rental company to the giant General Motors, which would rename the car rental division in the famous "Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System".
Warren Avis was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force during the Second World War. Disturbed by the fact that once landed in an airport he did not had a car available to use it to move through cities, Avis has developed its business in the field, allowing his clients to rent Ford models, first in airports Ypsilanti and Miami, further expanding throughout the United States. In 1954, Avis sold his car rental company for $ 8 million dollars. Later, the entrepreneur would lead Avis Enterprise, a successful company in the electronic technology. Avis is the first car rental company that has developed far beyond the United States, reaching in 1974, to be present on the markets of Western Europe, Asia and the Middle East, becoming the global market leader. In Romania, the car rental company of Avis has been present since 1994, and is one of the few multinational traditional brands on the market.
So, Hertz and Avis are two multinational tradition brands in the car rental industry anywhere around the globe. The industry is rapidly growing and the service has gone from luxury label service available only to businessmen, to a service covering a necessity of all social classes, if they have a problem with their own car.
In Romania, the car rental industry has developed especially after 1989, in the market entering both global and European multinationals as well as local ventures.
Blog - Rent a Car, Romania.
