Dollar Rent A Car (formerly known as Dollar A Day Rent A Car) is an American

car rental A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to ...

agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Dollar is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agencies including Hertz Rent A Car, Firefly Car Rental and

Thrifty Car Rental Thrifty Car Rental is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Thrifty is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agencies including Hertz Rent A Car and Dollar Re ...

. Dollar typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers.

Company history

Dollar Rent A Car was founded in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, in 1965 by Henry J. Caruso. It was purchased by The Chrysler Corporation for an undisclosed amount on August 15, 1990, and joined Chrysler's Pentastar Transportation Group in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. This acquisition merged Dollar Rent A Car with Thrifty Car Rental – forming Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group in 1997. Dollar's focus remained on company-owned rental locations at major airports to service both tourists and leisure rental markets. Both Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental formed an agreement in 1997 with The SABRE Group, Inc., a leader in electronic distribution systems within the travel industry, to manage the subsidiaries’ routine information processing, system engineering, and reservation management functions in a secure underground facility. Operating under Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Dollar earned US$617.53 million in 1997, with company-owned stores generating 91 percent of revenue, compared to $499.17 million in 1996. By this time, the car rental provider employed a staff of 5,400 as of September 1997. Dollar maintained an average fleet of 61,336 vehicles in 872 locations in 1997, compared to 1995's fleet of 52,571. In the coming years, the combined fleets and US locations of both Dollar and Thrifty grew in the following numbers: * 2001 – 78,600 cars, 268 US locations * 2004 – A fleet of 78,900 cars, 245 US locations * 2006 – 85,000 cars and 407 US corporate locations * 2009 – 106,245 cars and 600 US locations * 2012 – A fleet of 122,000 cars in 470 US locations The Hertz Corporation announced the company would purchase of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for (equivalent to $ billion in ) on November 19, 2012. As a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, on April 30, 2020, Hertz announced that it has missed lease payments on its fleet and was seeking support of its lenders in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. On May 22, 2020, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because it did not reach an agreement with top lenders. The company emerged from bankruptcy in early 2021.

International growth

Dollar connected with Paris-based Europcar International in 1997 to integrate reservations systems in the United States and Europe. This allowed Europcar and Dollar customers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America to reserve cars belonging to each brand beginning February 1, 1998. The collaboration resulted in 2,800 locations in 134 countries with a shared fleet of approximately 175,000 vehicles. With increased concentration on foreign-tour operators, especially those in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Dollar expanded their car rental services through corporate-owned locations in Europe in 2013. Initial focus grew towards Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, resulting in 114 corporate location openings by summer 2013. An additional 22 locations opened in Spain shortly after. By 2014, Dollar and Thrifty Automotive signed a partnership agreement with Ryan's Investments in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in February 2014. This gave the car rental brand locations in all major Irish airports and downtown locations in Cork,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

, Knock, and Shannon. Dollar and Thrifty reported 29 new locations in Italy, including

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in February 2015. Dollar's

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

operations began in 2008, and later merged with NFM Group, an independent rental company providing long- and short-terms rentals in Poland, in March 2017. It was later announced in May that Dollar would operate in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, after a multi-brand partnership agreement with franchise partner Andrew The Car Rental Co. Ltd. This provided modern fleets and chauffeur services amongst Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty locations in the area.

Fleet and rental locations

By 1997, Dollar Rent A Car was known to serve value-oriented travelers, including travel for leisure, small business, and tourism. In the late 1990s, rental locations in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

were held responsible for 80% of Dollar's 1996 fiscal revenue, and 76% in 1997. By 2011, international areas served include Australia, Canada, Caribbean Islands, Latin America, with a concentration on local markets and airport locations. Along with car, truck, and crossover rental services, Dollar Rent A Car provides ski racks, child safety seats, navigation, and operational support to renters. As of February 2017, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental maintained 1,500 franchised branches, 840 of which are in the United States and Canada. In recent years, Dollar has expanded their fleet to offer more upscale rental vehicles, which include vehicles such as the BMW X1,

BMW X3 The BMW X3 is a compact luxury crossover SUV manufactured by BMW since 2003, based on the BMW 3 Series platform. Now in its third generation, BMW markets the car as a ''Sports Activity Vehicle'', the company's proprietary descriptor for its X- ...

Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV engineered and manufactured by General Motors. It was Cadillac's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to competition from the Mer ...

, Infiniti QX60, Mercedes-Benz CLA,

Mercedes-Benz C Class The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a series of compact executive cars produced by Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 190 (W201) range, the C-Class was the smallest model in the marque's line-up until the W168 A-Class ...

, and Mercedes-Benz E Class AMG.

Controversies

Dollar Rent A Car charged $15 "administrative fees" each time when a customer passed through a cashless toll. In August 2018, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit against Dollar and Thrifty rental car companies for allegedly deceiving motorists and charging "grossly inflated" fees. In January 2019, Florida Attorney General has settled the lawsuit against the Dollar and Thrifty rental car companies over misleading toll fees. Customers who rented a car from Dollar or Thrifty between Jan. 1, 2011 and Jan. 7, 2019, and were misled about the fees can file a claim with the Attorney General's Office for a full or partial refund.

References

{{Authority control Car rental companies based in Florida Retail companies established in 1965 Transport companies established in 1965 American companies established in 1965 1965 establishments in California Caruso family Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020