Hertz expands in Australia and NZ
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Hertz today announced a major expansion into the leisure travel market in Australia and New Zealand, acquiring a low-cost car rental business and forming a comprehensive commercial alliance with a key motorhome operator.
By acquiring Ace Rental Cars, New Zealand’s second largest discount car rental company, Hertz will enter the rapidly-expanding budget travel market in both New Zealand and Australia.
Hertz also will become a participant in the increasingly-popular motorhome holiday market in both countries through a new partnership with Brisbane-based Apollo Motorhome Holidays, the largest privately-owned operator of recreational vehicles in the world.
The acquisition of Ace Rental Cars was announced by Mark P. Frissora, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hertz.
“Hertz is a global brand, with a strong reputation as a provider of high quality rental vehicles and equipment,” said Frissora. “We will continue to provide our core global offering of high quality, late model vehicles to business and leisure travelers. But we recognise also that we need to continue refining and developing our product offerings, in order to meet the changing requirements of our customers, and to position ourselves for emerging opportunities.”
Visiting Sydney today, Michel Taride, President of Hertz International and Executive Vice President of the Hertz Corporation, added that the acquisition of Ace Rental Cars would provide Hertz with a ready-made product range to satisfy the low-cost travel market in New Zealand, and an opportunity to replicate the operation throughout Australia.
The Apollo commercial alliance, announced by Taride today, will enable Hertz to expand its leisure product range to include the option of motorhome and campervan rentals.
With the new partnership, Hertz will be able to enter the motorhome market quickly in mainland Australia and New Zealand, offering customers access to a large, modern fleet of 2-6 berth Apollo vehicles based in key tourism destinations.
The Ace and Apollo deals follow two other recent and major initiatives by Hertz, as part of its programme of diversification.
Recently, Hertz acquired Melbourne-based car sharing company Flexicar in order to open Connect by Hertz’s global car sharing club to Australia. Hertz announced plans to expand the concept across Melbourne and into Sydney.
Through its growing “Connect by Hertz” programme, Hertz offers members access to shared vehicles parked locally, targeting inner city dwellers and business trip drivers who have only occasional requirements for a vehicle.
Hertz also has formed a major commercial partnership with Australia’s Virgin Blue Airlines group, which includes participation in Velocity, Virgin’s popular loyalty programme.
In addition, Hertz announced last month a global partnership agreement with fast-growing Middle Eastern airline Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi. The Virgin Blue Airlines Group also has just secured a commercial partnership with Etihad.
“The travel industry is evolving because the requirements of customers are changing,” said Taride. “The Hertz Corporation is determined to remain a major provider of rental vehicles in all key market segments, and to do so we will continue to expand and refine our product offerings,” he said.
“The acquisitions of Ace Rental Cars and Flexicar, and the partnerships with Apollo Motorhome Holidays, the Virgin Blue Group and Etihad Airways are all strategic decisions designed to ensure that we have the travel products and relationships that our customers expect in various market segments,” said Taride.
“We are focusing on the growth of our business and our revenue through the addition of products such as the Apollo motorhome range and brands such as Ace Rental Cars, while continuing to focus on the core Hertz car rental business,” he said.
“That commitment to excellence was rewarded recently when Hertz was named the car rental company with the most satisfied customers in Australia, following research by Canstar, an Australian agency which assesses customer satisfaction by comparing criteria including service, booking process, transparency of pricing, and availability of accessories.”
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