The Hertz Corporation 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 ...

company based in

Estero, Florida Estero is a village in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,939. During the 2010 census, Estero was an unincorporated community, or census-designated place, the population at that time was 22,612. Est ...

. The company operates its namesake Hertz brand, along with the brands

Dollar Rent A Car Dollar Rent A Car (formerly known as Dollar A Day Rent A Car) is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Dollar is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agen ...

, 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 ...

. It is one of the three big rental car holding companies in the United States, holding a 36% market share, placing it ahead of both

Enterprise Holdings Enterprise Holdings is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car and also operate ...

and the

Avis Budget Group Avis Budget Group is American car rental agency holding company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is the parent company of several brands including Avis Car Rental, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, Payless Car Rental and Zipca ...

. As one of the largest worldwide vehicle rental companies by sales, locations, and fleet size, Hertz operates in 160 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and New Zealand. Hertz was ranked 326th in the 2020 ''Fortune'' 500 list. The company filed for bankruptcy on May 22, 2020, citing a sharp decline in revenue and future bookings caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. As of December 31, 2021, the company had revenues of $7.3 billion, assets of $19.7 billion, and 23,000 employees. As of July 1, 2021, the company is no longer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

History

The company's early years

The Hertz Corporation, originally known as Rent-a-Car Inc., was founded by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

native Walter L. Jacobs in 1918. This small car rental operation began with a dozen

Model T Ford The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

cars. Within five years, Jacobs' fleet expanded to 600 vehicles—generating annual revenues of approximately US$1 million.

John D. Hertz John Daniel Hertz, Sr. (April 10, 1879October 8, 1961) was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist. Biography Born Sándor Herz to a Jewish family in Szklabinya, Austria-Hungary (today Sklabiňa, a ...

, owner of Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, developed an interest in the brand, leading to him purchasing the company in 1923. It was then renamed to Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System. Jacobs continued to serve as president and chief operating officer of Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System until 1961. After three years of ownership, John Hertz sold the rental car brand to General Motors Corporation in 1926. GM purchased the rest of Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company in 1943. Under the ownership of General Motors, the company released the first rental car charge card in 1926, opened its first rental car location at Chicago's Midway Airport in 1932, and introduced the first one-way rental plan in 1933. Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System expanded services to Canada in 1938 and Europe (France) in 1950.

Development of the corporation

John Hertz repurchased the brand from General Motors in 1953 through his other company,

The Omnibus Corporation The Omnibus Corporation (also Omnibus Corporation of America) is an American bus company that was formed in 1924 and acquired control of Fifth Avenue Coach Company and the Chicago Motor Coach Company with John D. Hertz as chairman. In 1953, it purch ...

, which he renamed to The Hertz Corporation. In 1954, its stock began trading on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

, and it purchased a New York-based truck leasing company, Metropolitan Distributors, including a fleet of 4,000 trucks. This acquisition increased The Hertz Corporation's fleet to 15,500 trucks and 12,900 passenger cars. During the General Motors ownership, the company had sold many local Hertz franchises to independent business entities. With the financial backing of investment bankers Lehman Brothers, led by Lehman partner and Hertz director,

Frank J. Manheim Frank J. Manheim, was a college professor, businessman, author and horse racing enthusiast in the United States. He taught at Union College in Schenectady, New York in the 1930s and worked at the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers for over 35 ...

, Hertz began a buyback program for the franchises in the US, then expanded globally. Manheim predicted the global growth and devised the strategy which made “Hertz” a household name and led to dynamic growth in the company's market capitalization from $7 million in 1953 to $100 million in 1965. The company expanded to South America in 1961. In 1967, The Hertz Corporation became a subsidiary of

Radio Corporation of America The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Com ...

. In 1985, the car rental company was sold to

UAL Corporation UAL Corporation is the former name of United Airlines Holdings, an airline holding company, incorporated in Delaware with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. UAL held a 100 percent controlling interest in United Airlines, Inc., one of the worl ...

, later known as Allegis Corporation, for a cash deal of US$587.5 million. This acquisition expanded Hertz's vehicle renting and leasing, with nearly 400,000 cars and trucks in 120 countries across the globe. In the summer of 1987, Allegis Corporation chairman and president Frank A. Olson announced the company would be selling Hertz due to internal changes. Park Ridge Corporation, which was owned and operated under

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, purchased Hertz in October 1987 for US$1.3 billion, and Hertz relocated its headquarters from Midtown Manhattan to

Park Ridge, New Jersey Park Ridge is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Park Ridge had a population of 8,645 as of the 2010 United States Census, In 2002, Hertz became the first international car rental company to open in China. In 2013, Hertz began partnering with China's largest car rental company, China Auto Rental. In 2016, it reduced its ownership stake but announced a continuing commercial relationship through 2023. By the second quarter of 2005, Hertz produced about ten percent of Ford's overall pre-tax profit. However, after 18 years of ownership, the Ford Motor Company announced it would be selling the Hertz brand with the intent to focus more on building Ford cars and trucks. Private equity firms

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...

, and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity agreed to purchase all shares of common stock in Hertz for an estimated US$15 billion, including debt, and the business itself for US$5.6 billion in 2005. The Clayton, Dubilier & Rice consortium took Hertz Global Holdings public again on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2006, and Hertz began to expand through Europe. Hertz launched subbrand "Simply Wheelz" in September 2007 for economy-minded and leisure-market audiences. By 2008, the service expanded to airports in California, Florida, and the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Once an online reservation was made, customers were able to choose one of six types of vehicles at self-service rental kiosks. Simply Wheelz was rebranded as Advantage Rent-a-Car in the fall of 2009. In late December 2009, Hertz announced the acquisition of used cars dealer British Car Auctions (BCA) from London-based equity firm

Montagu Private Equity Montagu is a mid-market private equity firm with a specialism in carve-out transactions and other first-time buyout investments. Montagu partners with companies with multi-million dollar enterprise values. Headquartered in London, Montagu also ha ...

for an estimated £390 million.

Dollar Thrifty and Advantage transactions

In November 2012, Hertz Global Holdings Chairman and CEO Mark P. Frissora announced the company's purchase of

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is the former holding company of Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car. Dollar Thrifty Automotive began to operate as an independent car rental subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation on November 4, 1997 while ...

, a U.S.-based car rental brand with headquarters 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 ...

, for US$2.3 billion. The business transaction included Hertz paying $87.50 per share of the Dollar Thrifty stock. The deal was finalized on November 19, 2012, and resulted in a combined 10,400 locations in approximately 150 countries. Before the merge, Dollar Thrifty was the fourth-largest car rental company. In December 2012, Hertz announced it would sell its

Advantage Rent a Car Advantage Rent a Car is a privately held American car rental company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company was founded in 1963 by Kenneth and Helen Walker as "$3.99 Car Rentals" and quickly expanded by purchasing several different car r ...

unit to Franchise Services of North America and Macquarie Capital after the acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group was finalized.

Modern corporate changes

In May 2013, Frissora and Florida Governor Rick Scott announced Hertz Global Holdings would relocate their worldwide headquarters from Park Ridge, New Jersey to

. Relocation to

Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally ...

was influenced by the state's travel and tourism industry, proximity to Orlando and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, to condense corporate offices, and to increase efficiency of Hertz Global brands. A temporary office building in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

housed 640 employees until construction of a new facility was completed in 2015. John P. Tague replaced Frissora as chief executive officer and president of The Hertz Corporation in November 2014. Kathryn V. Marinello, former CEO of Stream Global Services, was appointed president and chief executive officer of The Hertz Corporation on January 2, 2017, following John Tague's retirement. Marinello resigned as CEO on May 18, 2020, and Hertz announced that

Paul Stone Paul Stone (born 1968/1969) is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Hertz Corporation since May 2020. Stone spent 28 years of his career with Walmart as a store manager rising to Western US divisio ...

as new president and chief executive. Stone previously served as Hertz's executive vice president and chief retail operations officer for North America. On Oct. 5, Hertz announced it has named Mark Fields interim CEO and Paul Stone president and chief operations officer. In February 2022, Stephen M. Scherr was named Chief Executive Officer of Hertz.

Bankruptcy

As a result of the

, on April 30, 2020, Hertz announced that it had missed lease payments on its fleet and was seeking support from its lenders, including activist investor

Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American financier. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach. Icahn takes la ...

, in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. Marinello resigned as CEO on May 18, 2020, and Hertz announced that

would be the new president and chief executive. Stone previously served as Hertz's executive vice president and chief retail operations officer for North America. On May 22, 2020, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that Hertz was preparing to file for bankruptcy because it did not reach an agreement with top lenders. That same day, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Carl Icahn held 39% of Hertz's shares when it filed for bankruptcy on May 22, 2020, and he controlled three board seats. He invested a total of $2.3 billion into Hertz shares from 2014 to 2020. Hertz financed itself mostly by taking out loans secured by its fleet of cars, and if the cars fell in value, Hertz's lenders had the right to demand an immediate payment, reducing the amount of the loan, so they were still comfortably covered by the cars’ now-lower value. Because of the crisis, used-car values and sales volumes fell right as Hertz lost most of its customers. The bankruptcy filing started a 60-day clock, during which Hertz's secured lenders must wait before they can foreclose on the 400,000 U.S. cars that were financed through such arrangements.Hertz Is Bankrupt, and the Effects Will Flow Throughout the Car Business

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

, 28 May 2020 Despite the bankruptcy filing, Hertz announced on June 11 that it was seeking to raise up to $1 billion in new equity (with disclaimers that there is a "risk that the common stock could ultimately be worthless"). The Wall Street Journal characterized the potential stock sale as a "seemingly unprecedented move for a large bankrupt company eager to capitalize on market anomalies," as its stock price rose nearly 1000% from a low of 59 cents after its bankruptcy filing to $5.50 a share. Hertz's stock has been heavily traded by

retail investors An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

, becoming one of the most-traded stocks. Hertz sold $29 million in stock before the

Securities Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

halted further sales. The stock was delisted from the

in October 2020. On July 1, 2021, Hertz emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and changed its ticker symbol from HTZGQ to HTZZ. In October 2021, Mark Fields was named interim CEO of Hertz with a focus on forward looking investments. On October 25, 2021, Fields announced that Hertz will buy 100,000 Tesla vehicles citing his goal of fleet electrification and that Tesla is the "only manufacturer that can produce EVs at scale". In November 2021, the company went public again on the Nasdaq with symbol HTZ. In February 2022, Stephen M. Scherr was named CEO of Hertz.

Accusing customers of car theft

Since 2019, Hertz has been embroiled in a mounting controversy where numerous reports have emerged of Hertz falsely accusing its customers of having stolen automobiles which were under an active rental agreement. Many of the victims report having been arrested in full view of their families and at gun point. Victims report loss of licensure, professional credentials and employment while their falsely filed felonies languish through the system, depriving them of income and their rights. Victims report being jailed for months before being released. Victim reports that Hertz claims that outdated computer systems are to blame, local and corporate systems "not communicating correctly", but victim profiles indicate that these false arrests are more likely to happen to minority groups. In February 2022, a judge forced Hertz to reveal that it reports about 3,365 of its customers to the police every year for theft. Hertz claims that such instances are only a "rare situation" as this is only 0.014% of their 25 million annual transactions in the United States. According to reports, 47 customers have filed lawsuits against Hertz for misreporting cars as stolen resulting in many false arrests and imprisonment. In December 2022, Hertz announced the settlement of 364 pending claims relating to vehicle theft reporting, bringing resolution to more than 95% of its pending theft reporting claims. In this settlement, Hertz agreed to pay approximately $168 million by year-end to resolve these disputes.

Car rental locations and operation

Hertz has approximately 12,000 corporate and franchisee locations in 160 countries throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and New Zealand.

History of franchising

Wilford Gwilliam of Overland West purchased a portion of Hertz franchise in 1941. Overland West is the largest Hertz franchise licensee in North America, operating 27 car rental and four car sales locations in eight states. Gwilliam sold it to Devere J. Sparrow, who led the organization until selling it to his son-in-law, Jerry H. Petersen, in 1976. As the current owner, president and CEO, Petersen oversees franchises and employees.

Rental fleet

The Hertz rental car fleet has consisted of a variety of vehicle manufacturers, ranging from BYD, Mercedes,

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...

, Cadillac,

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar,

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, Jeep, and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, along with various others. By December 2012, the company had over 490,000 cars in the United States. As of 2014, 78 percent of Hertz's fleet includes vehicles that reach 28 miles per gallon or more on the highway.

Specialty cars

In 1966, Hertz engaged racing and automotive designer

Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby is best known for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company, which he modified dur ...

to develop an exclusive version of his modified Ford Mustang. The objective was to attract more customers to Hertz and the Hertz fleet would tempt car renters to buy a Mustang or a Shelby-Mustang. One thousand GT350H Mustangs were built as rental cars, although urban legend also maintains that many were missing original engines when returned. The "Rent-a-Racer" program was available in selected locations during the late 1960s for a limited time. The fleet has included

Corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...

, Jaguar XK-Es, and AMC AMXs. In 2006, Hertz partnered with Shelby to rent specially-modified Ford Mustang GT-H Coupes as a tribute to the original 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350-H. These 500 cars in 2006 were followed by convertibles in 2007. In 2008, Hertz began to rent modified

Chevrolet Corvette (C6) The Chevrolet Corvette (C6) is the sixth generation of the Corvette sports car that was produced by Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 2005 to 2013 model years. It is the first Corvette with exposed headlamps since the 1962 model. ...

"ZH-Z" Coupes, followed by convertibles in 2009. Hertz reintroduced the program in 2016, and includes vehicles such as Hendrick Motorsports-modified

Chevrolet Corvette (C7) The Chevrolet Corvette (C7) is the seventh generation of the Corvette sports car manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet from 2014 until 2019. It was introduced for the 2014 model year as the first to bear the Corvette Sting ...

Stingray Z/06 and

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro ...

SS and ZL-1, and a Shelby-modified Ford Mustang GT.

New technologies

In 2000, Hertz introduced

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

Satellite Radio to its North America rental fleet. In 2007, the company began testing hourly car rentals at three locations in New York City. It launched a global carsharing service under the name Connect by Hertz in December 2008, serving customers who paid a fee to rent cars by the hour in Park Ridge, New York,

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and Sydney. Later branded as Hertz on Demand and Hertz 24/7, operation in the United States ceased in September 2015. In 2009, it began testing a photo system to record damage to its rental cars. It introduced ExpressRent kiosks at various rental locations in November 2011. This was the first introduction of large-scale car rental kiosks in the United States that used a live agent through

video chat Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Ency ...

The Green Collection

Hertz launched its Green Collection of rental cars in September 2006. This fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles has included the

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, ...

, Ford Fusion,

Buick LaCrosse The Buick LaCrosse is a mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed by Buick since 2004. The LaCrosse is now in its third generation, slotted above the Buick Regal as the brand's flagship vehicle. The first-generation LaCrosse replaced the Century ...

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

, and

Hyundai Sonata The Hyundai Sonata is a mid-size car that has been manufactured by Hyundai since 1985. The first generation Sonata, which was introduced in 1985, was a facelifted Hyundai Stellar with an engine upgrade, and was withdrawn from the market in two ...

. In the US vehicles within this group feature Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highway fuel efficiency ratings of 28 miles per gallon-highway. Different models and different standards apply in other markets. The Green Collection was introduced in Singapore in 2014.

Electric Vehicle Rental Fleet

In October 2021, Hertz announced it was investing in electric vehicles with the purchase of 100,000 Teslas, primarily

Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The offici ...

sedans. In March 2022, Tesla Model Y crossovers were added to the order. The Hertz Tesla fleet will have access to Tesla’s supercharger network as Hertz develops their own vehicle charging infrastructure. Hertz and

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...

announced a partnership in October 2022 where Hertz will offer up to 50,000 Tesla vehicles for rent to Uber drivers. In April 2022, Hertz announced its intent to purchase up to 65,000

Polestar 2 The Polestar 2 is a battery electric 5-door liftback produced by the Swedish automaker Volvo under its Polestar sub-brand. Based on the CMA platform, production began in March 2020 at the Luqiao CMA Super Factory in Luqiao, Zhejiang, China. ...

vehicles over 5 years from electric carmaker

Polestar Polestar is a Swedish automotive brand established in 1996 by Volvo Cars' partner Flash/Polestar Racing and acquired in 2015 by Volvo, which itself was acquired by Geely in 2010. It is headquartered in Torslanda outside Gothenburg, Sweden with ...

. In September 2022, Hertz unveiled a deal with General Motors to purchase up to 175,000 electric vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and

BrightDrop BrightDrop is a subsidiary business created by the American manufacturer General Motors in 2021. The business offers a system of connected products targeting first- and last-mile delivery customers, including light commercial electric vehicle ...

over a period of 5 years. As part of its investment in electrification , Hertz announced in September 2022 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the development of a national network of EV charging stations powered by bp pulse, bp’s global electrification and charging solution brand.

Heavy equipment rentals

Hertz opened a heavy equipment rental division in 1965, the Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation, with its first location in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and headquarters in

Park Ridge, New Jersey Park Ridge is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Park Ridge had a population of 8,645 as of the 2010 United States Census,The Hi-Lo's The Hi-Lo's were a vocal quartet formed in 1953, who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1950s and 1960s. The group's name is a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges (Bob Strasen and Bob Morse were tall, Gene Puerling and Cla ...

sang the Hertz song for the commercials. Hertz used the line in the early 1960s in print, signs, and television. The series is listed as number 65 in the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th century by ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...

'' magazine.

O.J. Simpson

Former football player O. J. Simpson appeared as a spokesperson in Hertz ads. Simpson's place in advertising is said to have sparked African-American athletes being featured in film and television. One spot from the mid-1970s showed Simpson, at that point an American football player, running through an airport terminal, dressed in business attire, leaping over rows of seats to get to his Hertz rental car. A woman yelled, "Go, O. J., Go!" The tagline of the ad, as spoken by Simpson, was "Hertz, the superstar in rent-a-car". Through the 1980s and 1990s, Simpson appeared with golfer

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

and actress

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

. After O.J. Simpson's Ford Bronco chase and his murder trial, Hertz cut all ties to him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hertz Corporation 1918 establishments in Illinois American companies established in 1918 Car rental companies based in Florida Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Ford Motor Company Lee County, Florida Park Ridge, New Jersey Private equity portfolio companies Retail companies established in 1918 The Carlyle Group companies Transport companies established in 1918 2021 initial public offerings