Avis 2012 Annual Report Download - page 15

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8
greater control of vehicle availability and rate availability changes at our rental locations. Our system monitors and
forecasts supply and demand to support our efforts to optimize volume and rate at each location. Integrated into this
yield management system is a fleet distribution module that takes into consideration the costs as well as the potential
benefits associated with distributing vehicles to various rental locations within a geographic area to accommodate
rental demand at these locations. The fleet distribution module makes specific recommendations for movement of
vehicles between locations.
Pricing decision support systems. Pricing in the vehicle rental industry is highly competitive and complex. To
improve our ability to respond to rental rate changes in the marketplace, we have developed sophisticated systems to
gather and report competitive industry rental rate changes every day. Our systems, using data from third-party
reservation systems as its source of information, automatically scan rate movements and report significant changes
to our staff of pricing analysts for evaluation. These systems greatly enhance our ability to gather and respond to rate
changes in the marketplace. In 2012 and 2013, we are developing an integrated pricing and fleet optimization tool
that we expect will allow us to test and implement improved pricing and fleet deployment strategies and
optimization algorithms, as well as automate the implementation of certain price changes.
Business mix model. We have developed a strategic planning model to evaluate discrete components of our business
relative to each other. The model considers revenue and costs to determine the potential margin contribution of each
discrete segment. The model develops business mix and fleet optimization recommendations by using data from our
financial systems, the Wizard system and the fleet and revenue management systems along with management’s
objectives and targets.
Enterprise data warehouse. We have developed a sophisticated and comprehensive electronic data storage and
retrieval system which retains information related to various aspects of our business. This data warehouse allows us
to take advantage of comprehensive management reports and provides easy access to data for strategic decision
making for both brands.
Sales and marketing systems. We have developed a sophisticated system of online data screens which enables our
sales force to analyze key account information of our corporate customers including historical and current rental
activity, revenue and booking sources, top renting locations, rate usage categories and customer satisfaction data.
We use this information, which is updated weekly and captured on a country-by-country basis, to assess
opportunities for revenue growth, profitability and improvement.
Interactive adjustments. We have developed a customer data system which allows us to easily retrieve pertinent
customer information and make needed adjustments to completed rental transactions online for superior customer
service. This data system links with other accounting systems to handle any charge card transaction automatically.
Interactive voice response system. We have developed an automated voice response system that enables the
automated processing of customer reservation cancellations, confirmations, identification of rental locations,
extension of existing rentals and requests for copies of rental receipts over the phone using speech recognition
software.
On Location. We have introduced our “On Location®” service to certain of our corporate customers, which enables
self-service car rentals at their campus locations. This service consists of a two-way communications device
connected to the vehicle’s on-board diagnostics system. This device retrieves key vehicle information that integrates
with the Wizard system to perform a check-in and check-out of a vehicle in a self-service mode.
Fleet
We offer for rental a wide variety of vehicles, including luxury and specialty vehicles. Our fleet consists primarily of vehicles
from the current and immediately preceding model year. We maintain a single fleet of vehicles for Avis and Budget in
countries where we operate both brands.
We participate in a variety of vehicle purchase programs with major vehicle manufacturers. In 2012, we purchased vehicles
from Audi, BMW, Fiat, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Subaru, Toyota and
Volkswagen, among others. During 2012, approximately 21%, 18% and 12% of the cars acquired for our car rental fleet were
manufactured by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, respectively.