Current logo since 2007. |
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| Type | Private holding company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Car rental |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Founder(s) | Jack Taylor |
| Headquarters | Clayton, Missouri, United States |
| Key people | Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman & CEO Donald A Ross, Vice Chairman Pamela Nicholson, President & COO |
| Revenue | $12.1 billion |
| Employees | 68,000 |
| Website | enterpriseholdings.com |
Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is a privately held company formed in 2009 to operate rental car subsidiaries: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car, WeCar and its commercial fleet management, used car sales, and commercial truck rental operations.[1]
Enterprise Holdings was formed as part of a reorganization that followed Enterprise Rent-A-Car's acquisition of Vanguard Automotive Group.[1] The resulting company was 21st on the 2008 Forbes list of "Largest Private Companies in America."[2]
Enterprise is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, U.S., an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis.[3][4][5]
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the largest rental car company in North America,[6] and has more than 5,399 “local market” locations (91% of all transactions), and 419 airport locations (9% of all transactions). According to Detroit News, Enterprise purchases seven percent of all new automobiles sold in the United States.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s primary focus is the local rental car market, specializing in car rentals to consumers who need a replacement car as the result of an accident, mechanical repair, theft, or who require a vehicle for a special occasion such as a short business or leisure trip. In the late 1990s, Enterprise Rent-A-Car also began expanding its operations to include the airport market, and now serves airports in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany and Ireland. The company's initial entry into Europe came in 1994.[7]
By 2005, Enterprise Rent-A-Car's customer service has been recognized seven times by J.D. Power and Associates as highest in customer satisfaction for rental car companies at or near airports.[8] The company was named ninth on Business Week's top 25 companies customer service list in 2007.[9][10]
In 2006, Business Week listed Enterprise among the top ten places to begin a career.[11] Although the company's pay for management trainees was among the lowest on the list (at an average $32,500), "those who catch on"[11] quickly get a chance to run a branch office with the responsibility to generate a profit. There are certain requirements and qualifications to become promoted to an Assistant Manager, and many of these qualifications may depend on the employee's sales. According to BusinessWeek's list of "Best Places to Launch a Career," Enterprise was in the top 15. Within five years, a successful manager may take positions at headquarters or become an area manager responsible for multiple branches.[11]
First published in 2007, "Exceeding Customer Expectations" is an account of Enterprise's Business model of a focus on customer satisfaction that describes strategies that have helped Enterprise grow. Internally customer satisfaction is measured and published, and comparative analysis of branch locations of customer satisfaction on a monthly and yearly basis is a key part of determining success. Customer satisfaction is determined by a third party company which makes follow up phone calls on a random selection of rental customers on a weekly basis. A customer has been determined as a repeat customer if they rate their experience as "Completely Satisfied".
During model years 2006-2008, 66,000 of the Chevrolet Impalas the company ordered were purchased without side-curtain airbags, saving the company $11.5 million ($175 per vehicle), even though the airbags were standard in retail models.[12] The practice, which the company notes does not "violate any federal mandate", came to national attention when cars being retired from their rental fleet were sold with claims that side-curtain air bags were included.[12] About 5,000 Chevrolet Cobalts and Buick LaCrosses were also purchased with the side air bags omitted.[12] Enterprise admitted that it inaccurately advertised and sold 745 Chevrolet Impalas—model years 2006 through 2008—that were identified online as having side air bags, when in fact they did not. A company spokesman said that it would inform customers who had bought the cars, and offer to buy them back from the customers if they would like.[12] According to Safety Research and Strategies, a safety research firm that regularly works with the automotive industry, it is a highly unusual practice to delete safety features. "I’ve never seen a standard safety feature removed from a vehicle. I’ve been doing this work for 17 years and, until now, had yet to see this happen,” said Sean Kane of Safety Research & Strategies.[12] Contrary to this, some sources have noted that buying fleet without normally standard features does occur, as auto manufacturers offer this option to fleet buyers.
The California Bar Journal, in its September 2010 issue, reported:
Despite knowledge of the recall for defects, a car rental company rented two sisters in their twenties a PT Cruiser, resulting in their deaths in a ball of flames when the engine caught fire (Houck v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co., Alameda County Superior Court…).
The underlying facts were that on October 4, 2004, the Enterprise office in Santa Cruz, CA, rented the Houck sisters a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser which had been recalled for correction of a defective power steering hose. Enterprise had failed to correct the defect before renting it to the sisters. The defect could result in leakage of volatile power steering fluid onto hot surfaces in the engine compartment, creating a fire hazard. The sisters were killed when, due to the defect, their car caught fire, causing driver loss of control and a head-on collision into a tractor-trailer. [2]
During more than five years of litigation, Enterprise claimed that it was not responsible for the Houck sisters’ death. Shortly before trial, however, it dropped this claim and admitted its negligence in causing the catastrophe. Subsequently the sisters’ mother, working with safety advocacy groups, began a campaign for passage of legislation to prohibit rental car companies from placing recalled defective vehicles into customers’ hands without first repairing them.[3] Enterprise and other companies have opposed such legislation, which, as of December 3, 2011, was pending in the California legislature and the U.S. Senate. Its advocates say that it is essential to close a lethal loophole in present law which permits rental of unsafe vehicles.
In 2008, Enterprise piloted its first on-campus car sharing program at Washington University in St. Louis.[13] The program, called WeCar, was introduced at University of South Florida in July 2009.[13]
A planned acquisition of Citer SA was announced in November 2011; this includes the acquisition of subsidiary Atresa.[7] This acquisition would add 30,000 vehicles to the Company's fleet and provide entry into the French and Spanish markets.[7]
Enterprise mostly rents vehicle manufactured by General Motors. Enterprise's current selection includes (or cars similar to):
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