Thrifty Car Rental 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 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. Es ...

, with offices in many countries around the world. Thrifty is owned by

The Hertz Corporation The Hertz Corporation is an American car rental company based in Estero, Florida. The company operates its namesake Hertz brand, along with the brands Dollar Rent A Car, Firefly Car Rental and Thrifty Car Rental. It is one of the three big re ...

, along with other agencies including

Hertz Rent A Car The Hertz Corporation is an American car rental company based in Estero, Florida. The company operates its namesake Hertz brand, along with the brands Dollar Rent A Car, Firefly Car Rental and Thrifty Car Rental. It is one of the three big rent ...

and

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 agenci ...

. Thrifty typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers.

History

Thrifty Car Rental was established in 1958. The company completed an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

(IPO) of common stock in 1987. It would grow in size by purchasing Ohio-based Snappy Car Rental for in May 1989. By the end of 1989, the company was acquired by the

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

for (equivalent to $ million in ) and merged into the company's Pentastar Transportation Group. A few months later, Chrysler would also purchase

. In September 1994, Chrysler would sell Snappy Car Rental to a group of investors. On December 23, 1997, Chrysler spun off its car rental operations into the

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 ...

with an IPO, as part of an effort to reduce operating expenses at Chrysler. By the By the end of the 1997 fiscal year, Dollar Thrifty Automotive maintained 872 locations in the United States and employed a staff of 5,400. Fleet sizes and locations in the United States: * 1999 - 149 company-owned US locations with 123,814 vehicles between Dollar and Thrifty brands * 2001 - 130,252 cars in service with 540 locations in the US (includes 162 airport locations) * 2003 - 310 company-owned and 513 franchisee locations in the US * 2006 - 407 US corporate locations with revenue of US$1.534 billion * 2010 - Thrifty's rental system includes 331 locations in the US and Canada.

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 The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the tourism industry due to the resulting travel restrictions as well as slump in demand among travelers. The tourism industry has been massively affected by the spread of coronavirus, as many countries have ...

, 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 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

because it did not reach an agreement with top lenders. The company emerged from bankruptcy in early 2021.

Operations

The Thrifty brand typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers renting from airports.

The Blue Chip Rental Express Program

Thrifty Car Rental's free Blue Chip Express Rental Program was introduced to the U.S. and Canada in 2008. It offers expedited pickup and returns processes, choosing vehicle type, insurance coverage, designated lines at the counter, and syncing airline rewards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrifty Car Rental Car rental companies based in Florida American companies established in 1958 Retail companies established in 1958 Transport companies established in 1958 Ford Motor Company Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020