![]() ![]() He likes the service but if it deteriorates on Avis’ watch, would happily switch to an upstart that is challenging Zipcar. Agency for International Development, is a prime example of why the deal may win approval.īennett, who lives in Washington, uses Zipcar about once a month to visit family in the Maryland suburbs. Still, Zipcar member Mike Bennett, a 35-year-old contractor who works on projects for the U.S. If it (the deal) has any economic effect, it will be an adverse one but there’s no way we can prove an immediate substantial probability of an effect on price. “It’s on top of a lot of other consolidation in the auto rental business. “It’s the decline and fall of merger law,” he said. Peter Carstensen, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin Law School, believes the merger will be approved, and it angers him. They must also show that if prices go up that there is little likelihood that newcomers will move into the business. In order to stop a proposed merger the FTC and Justice Department usually show that prices will go up because of the deal. Zipcar did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Avis previously bought Budget Rent a Car, Hertz owns the brands Dollar and Thrifty, and Enterprise owns Alamo and National. While travellers landing at major airports see a profusion of car rental counters, at this point there are three giant nationwide rental companies. 2 spot with its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, with Enterprise atop the pack. In the rapidly consolidating world of car rentals, Avis has been relegated to No. Hertz and Avis have made small efforts to get into the car-sharing business but neither have come close to challenging Zipcar’s lead in this market. Zipcar will operate as a unit of Avis and Scott Griffith will remain the unit’s chief executive officer, Avis said this month. Availability of each car is shown online, and renters can specify a block of time - say, from 10am to 2pm.Īvis, which declined to be interviewed for this story, has said it expects the deal to close in the spring of 2013. Its fleet is stocked with premium cars like BMWs or Audis, fun cars such as the Mini Cooper, and larger vehicles like the Ford E-150 cargo van for that weekend apartment moving project.Įach vehicle is returned back to its designated spot at the end of the rental. It also has a strong presence in college towns like Bloomington, Indiana, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Once signed up for Zipcar, members who reserve a car find it waiting for them in a designated parking spot with no need to wait in a slow-moving line at a car rental counter to fill out lengthy forms.Īnd no need for city slickers to trek to the airport: Zipcar has vehicles stashed in spots around many city and inner suburban areas. Its niche - and one which it more or less created - is in rentals as short as an hour for users who, for example, may want to run a few errands, drive to business meetings or deal with an emergency. states after the company’s start in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 12-year-old Zipcar charges more than traditional rental car companies for longer rentals but makes up for the high price with convenience for its members, who now number more than 760,000 in 37 U.S. I would hate to see it change for the worse.” “I’m hopeful that Avis will be able to add to what Zipcar does. “One nightmare would be they ruin the customer service of Zipcar, the friendliness of Zipcar,” she said. “My first reaction was concern because I have been very excited to see the significant growth of startups (like Zipcar and other car-sharing companies),” said Ilana Preuss, 40, a Washington community development advocate who uses Zipcar. With Zipcar in its stable Avis is poised to zoom past larger rivals Hertz Global Holdings Inc HTZ.N and Enterprise Holdings Inc. There is, for example, a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck in Berkeley, California dubbed “Thaddeus.”Īvis Budget Group Inc CAR.O said on January 2 that it would pay about $500 million in cash, a 49 percent premium, for Zipcar Inc ZIP.O, thereby taking the top spot in the fast-growing U.S. ![]() Young, moneyed professionals who have decided to live car-free and broke college students can join and then rent a car for $11.25 an hour, often without leaving their neighbourhood.īeyond convenience and attentiveness to customers, there are the whimsical elements, like nicknaming the cars. The quirky Zipcar is admired for its new approach to car rental. REUTERS/Robert Galbraithīut an informal poll by Reuters of nine antitrust experts, many of whom lamented the deal privately for the feared loss of a lively upstart, found that eight of the nine expect U.S. A logo is shown on the side of a Zipcar in San Francisco, California January 2, 2013.
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