Avis 2007 Annual Report Download - page 10

Table of Contents
Car rental business
Operations—Avis
We operate or franchise approximately 2,200 of the approximately 5,100 rental locations that comprise the Avis car rental system (the “Avis
System”),
which represents one of the largest car rental systems in the world, based on total revenue and number of locations, and encompasses
locations at most of the largest airports and cities in the United States and internationally. The Avis System in Europe, Africa, the Middle East
and parts of Asia is primarily operated under royalty-free license agreements with Avis Europe Holdings, Limited (“Avis Europe”), an
independent third party, and is comprised of approximately 2,900 locations operated by Avis Europe and its sub-licensees.
We own and operate approximately 1,300 Avis car rental locations in both the on-airport and local rental segments in North America,
Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2007, Avis generated total revenue of approximately $3.7 billion, of which
approximately 83% (or $3.1 billion) was derived from U.S. operations. In addition, we franchise the Avis System to independent business
owners in approximately 850 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and parts of the Pacific
region. In 2007, approximately 95% of the Avis System total domestic revenue was generated by our locations and the remainder was
generated by locations operated by franchisees. Franchisees generally pay royalty fees to us based either on total time and mileage charges or
total revenue.
In 2007, Avis derived approximately 62% and 38% of its domestic time and mileage revenue from commercial and leisure customers,
respectively, and 81% and 19% of its domestic revenue from customers renting at airports and locally, respectively. We have continued to
focus efforts in 2007 on increasing the amount of revenue we generate locally from customers who rent in order to temporarily replace their
own cars when they are being repaired or are otherwise unavailable.
The Avis brand provides high-quality car rental services at price points generally above non-branded and value-branded national car rental
companies. We offer Avis customers a variety of premium services, including:
5
•
Avis Preferred, a counter bypass program, which is available at major airport locations;
• Where2 , a navigation system with real-time traffic alerts, including weather delays, construction tie-ups and traffic snarls, which
suggests alternative routes and features Bluetooth hands-free calling and MP3 playback capability as well as directions in multiple
languages;
• Avis Cool Cars, a line of fun-to-drive vehicles such as the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette, Chrysler Crossfire and Hummer H3, as
well as eco
-
friendly Nissan Altima and Toyota Prius
“
hybrid
”
vehicles;
• Roving Rapid Return, wireless technology, which permits customers who are returning vehicles to obtain a printed charge record
from service agents at the vehicle as it is being returned;
• Avis Cares, a program which provides customers with area-specific driver safety information, the latest child safety seats (available
for rent), local information and driving maps;
•
Avis Access, a full range of special products and services for drivers and passengers with disabilities;
•
Avis Interactive, a proprietary management tool that allows select corporate clients to easily view and analyze their rental activity via
the Internet through account analysis and activity reports, allowing these clients to better manage their travel budgets and monitor
employee compliance with applicable travel policies;