Hertz History

Hertz, the world's leading vehicle renting organization, operates from approximately 7,700 locations in 145 countries worldwide.

Hertz is the largest general use car rental brand in the world, and the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 69 major airports in Europe, operating both corporate and licensee locations in cities and airports in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.  In addition, the Company has licensee locations in cities and airports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.  Product and service initiatives such as Hertz #1 Club Gold, NeverLost customized, onboard navigation systems, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the company’s Prestige, Fun and Green Collections, set Hertz apart from the competition.

Today, Hertz's Worldwide Reservations Centers handle approximately 40 million phone calls and deliver approximately 30 million reservations annually.

Wholly owned subsidiaries of Hertz include:

• Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation (HERC), one of the world’s largest equipment rental businesses, with more than 275 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and an additional 85 locations in France and Spain.  HERC offers daily, weekly, monthly and long-term rentals of tools and supplies, as well as new and used equipment for sale, to customers ranging from major industrial companies to local contractors and consumers.
• Hertz Claim Management Corporation (HCM), a Third Party Liability Claims Administrator providing services to major corporations, self insured entities and the insurance marketplace.
• Hertz Local Edition® (HLE), which specialises in insurance replacement and local car rentals in North America for those customers whose personal cars are being repaired or are otherwise out of service.

1910's
In September of 1918, the pioneer of auto renting, Walter L. Jacobs, at the age of 22, opened a car-rental operation in Chicago. Starting with a dozen Model T Fords, which he repaired and repainted himself, Jacobs expanded his operation to the point where, within five years, the business generated annual revenues of about $1 million.

1920's
In 1923, Jacobs sold his car-rental concern to John Hertz, President of Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company. Jacobs continued as Hertz' top operating and administrative executive.

This rental business, called Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System, was acquired in 1926 by General Motors Corporation when it bought Yellow Truck from John Hertz.

1930's
In 1932, Hertz opened the first rent-a-car facility at Chicago's Midway Airport. Later that same year, to further facilitate the world's adjustment to travel by air, Hertz introduced the first Fly/Drive car rental program.

1950's
In 1953, the Hertz properties were bought from GMC by the Omnibus Corporation, which divested itself of its bus interests and concentrated solely on car and truck renting and leasing. A year later, a new name was taken -- The Hertz Corporation -- and it was listed for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange. Jacobs became Hertz' first President and served in that post until his retirement in 1960. He died in 1985 at the age of 88.

In 1954, the new corporation bought Metropolitan Distributors, a pioneer in New York truck leasing dating back to the World War I and the largest concern of its kind in any one city. In the process, the head of Metropolitan Leon C. Greenbaum, became Vice Chairman of the Hertz Board of Directors; he later became Chairman, and in 1960, Chief Executive Officer.

1960's
In 1967, The Hertz Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of RCA Corporation and operated as a separate entity, with its own management and Board of Directors.

1970's
In 1970, Hertz established its Worldwide Reservations Centre in the heartland, Oklahoma City, and a year later Hertz' Data Centre was also opened in Oklahoma City. Hertz went on-line, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, all over the world.

1980's
In 1984, Hertz first developed and introduced Computerised Driving Directions (CDD) and became the first car rental company to offer this service. CDD was made available at over 100 airport and downtown locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The directions were available at customer rental locations through easy-to-use, self-service, touch-screen terminals. Hertz offered the directions in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.

In 1985, Hertz joined UAL Inc. On December 30, 1987, Hertz was sold to Park Ridge Corporation, a company formed by Ford Motor Company and certain members of Hertz senior management for the purpose of purchasing Hertz. In 1988, Volvo North America Corporation joined Ford and Hertz management as an investor in Park Ridge Corporation.

Hertz Instant Return, introduced in 1987, further streamlined the return side of the car rental transaction. In the car return area, the Hertz agent meets the returning customer with the Instant Return hand-held computer. Today, Hertz has more than 100 locations offering this service around the world.

In 1989, in the U.S., Hertz redefined the car rental business with its #1 Club Gold® Service, which became an international symbol for "fast service." This premium, expedited rental service which is available in more than 800 locations today, provides car rental customers with the ultimate in speed and quality. With #1 Club Gold, customers have no unnecessary paperwork at the time of rental and no long lines.

1990's
In 1991, Hertz #1 Club Gold service was exported to Canada, to Europe in 1992 and Asia Pacific in 1993.

That same year, Park Ridge Corporation was merged into The Hertz Corporation. In 1994, Ford purchased the outstanding shares of Hertz and Hertz' became an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Ford.

Also, in 1994, Hertz opened its Financial Centre, which joined its Worldwide Reservations and Data Centres in Oklahoma City.

In 1995, Hertz introduced in the U.S. its NeverLost® on-board navigation system. The user friendly route-guidance system provides turn-by-turn driving directions to virtually any destination within a geographic area by means of an in-car video screen, with computer-generated voice prompts, mounted in the front of the car's interior between driver and passenger seats.

In 1997, Hertz launched its new website, hertz.com. The site featured facts and figures on Hertz' fleet, including a visual vehicle guide, corporate information and details on Hertz' services, promotions and partnerships. The interactive portion of the site offers rate quotations as well as booking, confirmation and cancellation capabilities for customers and travel agents.

On April 25, 1997, Hertz became a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "HRZ."

In October 1997, Dublin Ireland became home to Hertz Europe's Service Centre. The Centre is Hertz Europe's centralised reservations centre handling calls from France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the U.K..

In 1998, Hertz and Magellan Corporation announced the formation of an exclusive joint venture to oversee the expansion and operation of Hertz' NeverLost navigation system. Under the joint venture 40,000 "next generation" units have been deployed in the U.S. and Canada. This joint venture marks Hertz as the leader in this cutting-edge global positioning technology.

In 1999, Hertz and Toyota formed a car rental partnership in Japan, making available to Hertz customers car rental service at 1,100 locations in that country.

2000's
In May 2000, Hertz opened its second U.S. reservations centre in Saraland, Alabama, a municipality of Mobile County.

In July 2000, Hertz introduced a new, three tiered program for its top level #1 Club Gold members with the incorporation of #1 Club Gold® Five Star and #1 Club Gold® Presidents' CircleSM levels.

On March 9, 2001, Hertz became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford when Ford reacquired the outstanding 18.5% of Hertz' stock.

In June 2001, Hertz launched another new level of premium car rental service with the introduction of the Hertz Prestige Collection. Offering vehicles from Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Audi, Infiniti, Cadillac, Hummer, and Volvo, Hertz Prestige Collection combines luxury vehicles with Hertz' exclusive customer services.

In March 2002, Hertz became the first global car rental company to operate in China operating in several locations, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

In December 2002, Hertz introduced into its U.S. fleet, the SIRIUS Satellite Radio.  Available in approximately 20,000 vehicles, SIRIUS radio receives 65 channels of commercial-free music and 55 channels of news, sports and entertainment nationwide.

In 2003, NeverLost was exported to Australia.

New in 2004 was another industry first for Hertz — brand and model reservability. This feature allows Hertz’ #1 Club and #1 Club Gold members to reserve vehicles based on make and model, an option never before available from any car rental company.

The year 2004 also saw Hertz’ debut of WiFi — wireless, high-speed Internet service. Available in more than 50 U.S. airport locations, Hertz customers can access the Internet through WiFi from inside the Hertz facility as well as in the #1 Club Gold rental area.

In 2005, NeverLost was exported to Europe.

In December, 2005 Hertz was acquired by three leading private equity investment companies:  Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Private Global Equity.

In January 2006, Hertz introduced the Hertz Fun Collection into North America, with vehicles tailor-made for travellers seeking exciting driving experiences featuring a selection of convertibles, coupes/roadsters and SUVs - the centerpiece of the Fun collection is the Shelby GT-H, a special, limited edition fleet of performance-modified Ford Mustang GTs. All Fun Collection vehicles feature SIRIUS Satellite Radio and all cars can be reserved by brand and model.

Also in 2006, Hertz introduced its Green Collection of fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly cars, reservable by make and model.