Hertz 2012 Annual Report Download - page 31

ITEM 1. BUSINESS (Continued)
Our Brands
Our car rental business is primarily operated through three brands—Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty. Each of our
brands generally maintains separate airport counters, reservations and reservation systems, marketing
and all other customer contact activities, however a single management team manages all three brands.
As we integrate the Dollar and Thrifty brands into our operations, we expect to eliminate many of the
duplicative functions previously performed separately by Dollar Thrifty and identify synergies through
combined fleet management, insurance, information technology functions, back office processing and
procurement.
The Hertz brand is one of the most recognized brands in the world. Our customer surveys, in the United
States, indicate that Hertz is the car rental brand most associated with the highest quality service. This is
consistent with numerous published best-in class car rental awards that we have won, both in the United
States and internationally, over many years. We have sought to support our reputation for quality and
customer service in car rental through a variety of innovative service offerings, such as our customer
loyalty program (Gold Plus Rewards), our global expedited rental program (Hertz #1 Club Gold), our
one-way rental program (Rent-it-Here/Leave-it-There), our national-scale luxury rental program (Prestige
Collection), our sports car rental program (Adrenaline Collection), our environmentally friendly rental
program (Green Traveler Collection), our car sharing service (Hertz On Demand) and our in-car
navigational services (Hertz NeverLost). We intend to maintain our position as a premier provider of
rental services through an intense focus on service, quality and product innovation.
Based on the latest available data, in the United States, the Hertz brand had the highest market share, by
revenues, in 2010, 2011 and in the first eleven months of 2012 at approximately 200 of the largest
airports where we have company-operated locations. Out of the approximately 200 major European
airports at which we have company-operated rental locations, data regarding car rental concessionaire
activity during 2012 was available at 120 of these airports. Based upon the latest available data, we
believe that we were the largest airport car rental company, measured by aggregate airport rental
revenues, at those 120 airports taken together. In the United States, we intend to maintain or expand our
market share in the airport rental business. For a further description of our competitors, market share
and competitive position see ‘‘—Competition’’ below.
Dollar and Thrifty are positioned as value car rental brands in the travel industry. The Dollar brand’s main
focus is serving the airport vehicle rental market, which is comprised of business and leisure travelers.
The majority of its locations are on or near airport facilities. Dollar operates primarily through company-
owned locations in the United States and Canada, and also licenses to independent franchisees which
operate as a part of the Dollar brand system. Thrifty serves both the airport and local markets through
company-owned locations and its franchisees which derive approximately 90% of their combined rental
revenues from the airport market and approximately 10% from the local market.
In April 2009, we acquired certain assets of Advantage Rent A Car, or ‘‘Advantage’’ a brand focused on
price-oriented customers at key leisure travel destinations, and began operating the Advantage brand as
part of our business. On November 19, 2012, we entered into an agreement with the Federal Trade
Commission in connection with our acquisition of Dollar Thrifty to divest the Advantage brand and
selected Dollar Thrifty airport concessions. On December 12, 2012, we divested the Simply Wheelz
subsidiary, which owned and operated the Advantage brand, to Adreca Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of
Macquarie Capital which is expected to be operated by Franchise Services of North America Inc.
Immediately prior to the divestiture, Advantage was operating at 62 U.S. locations, including
35 on-airport locations where Advantage held concessions.
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