Hertz Car Rentals is one of the leading car rentals companies in the world. It operates from over 7000 locations worldwide and offers various types of services including airport car rentals. It has a history dating back to the 1910s when Walter L Jacobs opened a car rental in Chicago. In 1923, Jacobs sold his business to John Hertz the President of Yellow cab and Yellow truck and Coach Manufacturing Company but stayed on as the top operating and administrative executive. The rental business was then called the Hertz Drive-Ur-Self system and in 1926 it was acquired by General Motors Corporation when it bought Yellow Truck.
The first Hertz car rental was opened in 1932 at Chicago’s Midway Airport and that was the same year that it introduced the first fly/drive car rental program. In 1953, Hertz properties were purchased from General Motors Corporation (GMC) by the Omnibus Corporation. In 1954, it was known as Hertz Corporation and was listed in the Stock Exchange with Jacobs as the first president, who served until his retirement in 1960.
In 1994, Hertz bought Metropolitan Distributors, a truck leasing company based in New York with a history dating back to World War 1. The President of Metropolitan, Leon C Greenbaum became the Vice chairman of the board of directors of Hertz. He later became the Chief Executive Officer following the death of Jacobs in 1960.
The company then became the subsidiary of RCA Corporation in 1967 and it operated separately with its own Board of Directors and management. In 1970, the Company established a Worldwide Reservations center in Oklahoma City and the following year saw the opening of Hertz Data Center in Oklahoma. It is the same year that Hertz went online and was online and available 24/7 throughout the world.
In 1984, Hertz became the first company to develop and introduce computerized driving direction (CDD), which was then made available in various airports and downtown locations in US and Canada. The CDD was offered in six languages and was very easy to use with touch screen terminals and self service. In 1987, it introduced the Hertz Instant return which was designed to stream line the transactions when it came to car returns. This system is still in use all over the world. As a way to provide its clients with fast and quality service, Hertz car rentals introduced the club Gold service which is available in more than 800 locations world wide.
In 1991, The Hertz Corporation was formed and Ford purchased the outstanding shares of Hertz thus fully owning it as a subsidiary. In 1997 Hertz launched its new website hertz.com which displays the fats and figure of the company and the rate quotations and booking confirmation as well as cancellation features of the travel agents and customers. It then formed the NeverLost navigation system together with Magellan Corporation.
In 2005 hertz car rental was acquired by three private investment companies: The Carlyle Group, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Merrill Lynch Private Global Equity. It also introduced Hertz Fun Collection with cars that are tailor made to adventurous travelers and Green Collection of fuel efficient cars, all which can be reserved by model and brand.
