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Thrifty Car Rental

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Thrifty Car Rental
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryCar rental
Founded1958; 66 years ago (1958)
Headquarters
Estero, Florida
,
United States
Number of locations
1,061 locations (2022)[1]
ParentHertz Global Holdings
Websitethrifty.com

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 Rent A Car. Thrifty typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers.

History

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Thrifty Car Rental was established in 1958.[2][3] The company completed an initial public offering (IPO) of common stock in 1987. It would grow in size by purchasing Ohio-based Snappy Car Rental for US$40,000,000 (equivalent to $98,319,463 in 2023) in May 1989.[4][5]

By the end of 1989, the company was acquired by the Chrysler Corporation for US$263,000,000 (equivalent to $646,450,470 in 2023) and merged into the company's Pentastar Transportation Group.[2] A few months later, Chrysler would also purchase Dollar Rent A Car. In September 1994, Chrysler would sell Snappy Car Rental to a group of investors.[6]

On December 23, 1997, Chrysler spun off its car rental operations into the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group with an IPO, as part of an effort to reduce operating expenses at Chrysler.[7][8][9] 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.[2][10]

Fleet sizes and locations in the United States:

  • 1999 - 149 company-owned US locations with 123,814 vehicles between Dollar and Thrifty brands[11]
  • 2001 - 130,252 cars in service with 540 locations in the US (includes 162 airport locations)[11][12]
  • 2003 - 310 company-owned and 513 franchisee locations in the US[11]
  • 2006 - 407 US corporate locations with revenue of US$1,534,000,000 (equivalent to $2,318,472,103 in 2023)[13][14]
  • 2010 - Thrifty's rental system includes 331 locations in the US and Canada.

The Hertz Corporation announced it would purchase the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for US$2,300,000,000 (equivalent to $3,052,442,383 in 2023) on November 19, 2012.[15]

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 from its lenders in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy.[16] On May 22, 2020, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because it did not reach an agreement with top lenders.[17][18] The company emerged from bankruptcy in early 2021.[19]

Dollar and Thrifty locations across the United States have faced multiple class action lawsuits[20] for duplicitous actions.

Operations

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The Thrifty brand typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers renting from airports.[2][21]

The Blue Chip Rental Express Program

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Thrifty Car Rental's free Blue Chip Express Rental Program was introduced to the U.S. and Canada in 2008.[22] It offers expedited pickup and returns processes, choosing vehicle type, insurance coverage, designated lines at the counter, and syncing airline rewards.[22][23]

Competitors

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References

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  1. ^ "General information". Thrifty Car Rental. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC (DTG) IPO". Nasdaq. 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  3. ^ "Thrifty Car Rental". Travel Commerce Network. 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Thrifty Rent-A-Car To Buy Snappy Car". The New York Times. May 24, 1989. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "Thrifty to Acquire Snappy Car". The Report Dispatch. Gannett. May 23, 1989. p. 39. Retrieved February 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Chrysler Sells Snappy Car Division". The New York Times. Reuters. September 9, 1994. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  7. ^ "Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Announces Key Leadership Changes; Paxton Named President and CEO". F&I and Showroom. September 26, 2003. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Christian, Nicole M.; Reitman, Valerie (November 7, 1997). "Chrysler Will Spin Off Its Dollar Thrifty Unit". The Wall Street Journal. Auburn Hills, MI. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  9. ^ "Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. History". Funding Universe. 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  10. ^ "Chrysler to Acquire Dollar Rent A Car". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 144, no. 178. Detroit, MI. June 27, 1990. pp. 35–6. Retrieved February 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c "Form 10-K for DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 2003. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  12. ^ "U.S. Car Rental Market: Fleet". Auto Rental news. 2001. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  13. ^ "2006 U.S. CAR RENTAL MARKET" (PDF). Auto Rental News. 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  14. ^ "Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group 2006 Form 10-K" (PDF). Corporate Library. 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Terlep, Sharon; Dezember, Ryan (August 27, 2012). "Hertz Wins Bid to Buy Dollar Thrifty". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  16. ^ Welch, David (April 30, 2020). "Hertz in push to avoid bankruptcy - Business down 80% since pandemic took hold". SFGate. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Gladstone, Alexander; Lombardo, Cara (May 22, 2020). "Hertz Preparing Bankruptcy Filing as Soon as This Weekend". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  18. ^ Spector, Mike (May 22, 2020). "Hertz files for U.S. bankruptcy protection as car rentals evaporate in pandemic". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  19. ^ Lipschultz, Bailey (July 1, 2021). "Hertz Stock Rages On After Bankruptcy With Surge, Then Plunge". Bloomberg.
  20. ^ Mower, Lawrence (January 23, 2019). "Florida has settled with Dollar/Thrifty over misleading rental car fees. Here's how to file a claim". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC". EDGAR Online. 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017. [dead link‍]
  22. ^ a b "Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards Offers Free Car Rentals". Maximizing Money. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  23. ^ "The Low Down on Thrifty Blue Chip". AutoSlash. November 1, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
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