Avis Budget Group, Inc. provides mobility solutions through Avis, Budget, and Zipcar, as well as several other brands, well recognized in their respective markets.
The company’s brands offer a range of options, from car and truck rental to car sharing. It licenses the use of the Avis, Budget, Zipcar, and other brands’ trademarks to licensees in areas in which it does not operate directly. The company and its licensees operate its brands in approximately 180 countries throughout the world. The c...
Avis Budget Group, Inc. provides mobility solutions through Avis, Budget, and Zipcar, as well as several other brands, well recognized in their respective markets.
The company’s brands offer a range of options, from car and truck rental to car sharing. It licenses the use of the Avis, Budget, Zipcar, and other brands’ trademarks to licensees in areas in which it does not operate directly. The company and its licensees operate its brands in approximately 180 countries throughout the world. The company generally maintains a leading share of airport car rental revenues in North America, Europe and Australasia, and it operates a leading car sharing network and one of the leading commercial truck rental businesses in the United States.
On average, the company’s global rental fleet totaled approximately 695,000 vehicles in 2024. It completed over 38 million vehicle rental transactions worldwide during 2024.The company’s brands and mobility solutions have an extended global reach with approximately 10,250 rental locations throughout the world, including approximately 3,800 locations operated by its licensees.
The company categorizes its operations into two reportable business segments:
Americas - consisting primarily of vehicle rental operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, car sharing operations in certain of these markets, and licensees in certain areas in which it does not operate directly.
International - consisting primarily of vehicle rental operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, car sharing operations in certain of these markets, and licensees in certain areas in which it does not operate directly.
Strategy
For 2025, the company expects its strategy to focus on transforming key parts of its business through technology, system enhancements and data, particularly with respect to customer experience, revenue generation and costs. The company’s this strategy, together with a change in fourth quarter 2024 in its fleet strategy to accelerate certain fleet.
Brands and Operations
Brands
The company’s Avis, Budget, and Zipcar brands are three of the most recognized brands in its industry. In addition, the company is able to recognize benefits as a result of complementary demand patterns with commercial rentals occurring primarily on business days and leisure rentals occurring primarily on holidays and weekends. It also operates the Payless and Apex brands in the value segment of the car rental industry. In addition, the company further extends its offerings through its AmicoBlu, Maggiore, and Morini Rent brands in Italy; FranceCars brand in France, ACL Hire and McNicoll Hire brands in the U.K.; and Turiscar and Turisprime brands in Portugal.
Avis
The Avis brand provides high-quality vehicle rental and other mobility solutions and serves the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry.
The company also licenses the Avis brand to independent commercial owners who operate approximately half of its locations worldwide. The company operates or licenses Avis’s vehicle rental locations at virtually all of the largest commercial airports and cities in the world.
The company offers Avis’s customers a variety of premium services, including:
The Avis’s mobile application, which allows customers a unique and innovative way to control many elements of their rental experience via their mobile devices without the need to visit the rental counter. In many United States locations, the application also allows customers to choose, exchange or upgrade their vehicles upon arrival and utilize a unique code to exit via its automated Express Exit for a completely contactless rental experience. The application also allows customers to track Avis shuttle buses to rental locations, find their vehicle, and locate nearby gas stations and parking facilities;
Avis Preferred, its frequent renter rewards program that offers counter bypass at major airport locations, as well as additional benefits at different customer status levels, such as vehicle upgrades;
Availability of a selection of luxury vehicles through its Avis Signature Series, as well as premium, sport, performance and electrified vehicles;
Access to satellite radio service, mobile WiFi devices, and GPS navigation;
Avis rental services, such as roadside assistance, fuel service options, e-receipts, electronic toll collection services that allow customers to pay highway tolls without waiting in toll booth lines, and amenities, such as Avis Cares, a full range of special products and services for drivers and passengers with disabilities;
For the company’s corporate customers, Avis Budget Group Business Intelligence, a proprietary reporting solution that provides a centralized reporting tool and customer reporting portal for corporate clients in North America and Europe, enabling them to easily view and analyze their rental activity, allowing them to better manage their travel budgets and monitor employee compliance with applicable travel policies.
Budget
The company also licenses the Budget brand to independent commercial owners who generally pay royalty fees to it.
Car Rental
The company operates or licenses Budget car rental locations at airports and in cities worldwide.
Budget offers its customers several products and services similar to Avis, such as refueling options, roadside assistance, electronic toll collection, and other supplemental rental products, e-receipts and special rental rates for frequent renters. In addition, Budget’s Fastbreak service expedites rental service for frequent travelers and the mobile application allows customers to reserve, modify, and cancel reservations on their mobile devices.
Budget Truck
The company’s Budget Truck rental business is one of the largest local and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses in the United States. As of December 31, 2024, its Budget Truck fleet comprising approximately 22,000 vehicles that are rented through a network of approximately 400 company-operated and 380 dealer-operated locations throughout the continental United States. These dealers are independently-owned businesses that generally operate other retail service businesses. In addition to their principal businesses, the dealers rent its light- and medium-duty trucks and commercial cargo vans to customers and are responsible for collecting payments on its behalf. The dealers receive a commission on all truck, van and ancillary equipment rentals. The Budget Truck rental business serves both the light commercial and consumer sectors. The light commercial sector consists of a wide range of businesses that rent light- to medium-duty trucks, which it defines as trucks having a gross vehicle weight of less than 26,000 pounds, for a variety of commercial applications. The consumer sector consists primarily of individuals who rent trucks to move household goods on either a one-way or local basis.
Zipcar
Zipcar is a leading car sharing network, driven by a mission to enable simple and responsible urban living. With its wide variety of self-service vehicles available by the hour or day, Zipcar offers comprehensive, convenient and flexible car sharing options in urban areas and college campuses in hundreds of cities and towns. Zipcar provides its members on-demand, self-service vehicles in reserved parking spaces located in neighborhoods, business districts, office complexes and college campuses, as an alternative to car ownership. The company continues to offer its Zipcar Flex product in London providing one-way rentals, including to and from Heathrow airport, which can be parked in public on-street parking spots in designated areas of the city.
Payless
Payless is a leading rental car supplier serving the deep-value segment of the industry, which it licenses or operates in approximately 285 locations worldwide, including more than 175 locations operated by licensees and approximately 110 company-operated locations primarily located in North America, the majority of which are at or near major airports. Payless’ rental fees are often lower than those of larger, more established vehicle rental brands. The Payless business model allows it to extend the life-cycle of a portion of its rental fleet, as it cascade certain vehicles that exceed certain Avis and Budget age or mileage thresholds to be used by Payless.
Reservations, Marketing and Sales
Reservations
The company’s customers can make vehicle rental reservations through its brand-specific websites and toll-free reservation centers, through its brand-specific mobile applications, online travel agencies, travel agents or through selected partners, including many major airlines, associations and retailers. Travel agents can access its reservation systems through all major global distribution systems, which provide information with respect to rental locations, vehicle availability and applicable rate structures.
The company’s Zipcar members can reserve vehicles through Zipcar’s reservation system, which is accessible online or on a mobile device, by the hour or day, at rates that include fuel, secondary insurance and other costs typically associated with vehicle ownership.
Marketing and Sales
The company supports its brands through a range of marketing channels and campaigns, including traditional media, as well as digital media, including internet and email marketing, social media, streaming services, and mobile device applications. Its Avis brand campaign Plan On Us highlights the trust its customers have in it. The company also markets through sponsorships of major sports entities and charitable organizations. It utilizes a customer relationship management system that enables it to deliver more targeted and relevant offers to customers across online and offline channels, including an expedited and contactless rental process and loyalty programs that reward frequent renters with free rental days and car class upgrades.
The company is able to reach and merchandise cars and rentals to a diverse demographic of consumers through its strategic partnerships with airlines, associations and hotel companies, and it maintains strong links to the travel industry. In addition, it has developed relationships that provide brand exposure and access to new customers, including deals to provide vehicles to ride-hail drivers in cities across North America.
In 2024, approximately 51% of vehicle rental transactions originating from Avis locations were generated by travelers who rented from Avis under contracts between Avis and their employers or through membership in an organization with which Avis has a contractual affiliation. The company offers Avis Budget Group Business Intelligence, an online portal complete with rental summary dashboards, visualizations, and detailed reports that provides its corporate customers with insight into their program’s performance, giving them direct access to more data in a customer-facing portal offering useful data insights, including options to customize and schedule reports. Avis also maintains marketing relationships with other travel partners through which it is able to offer their customers incentives to rent from Avis.
Additionally, the company offers Unlimited Rewards, its loyalty incentive program for travel agents, and Avis and Budget programs for small businesses that offer discounted rates, central billing options and rental credits to members.
The company’s Zipcar brand utilizes a diverse set of marketing and sales strategies to acquire and engage members, including digital marketing, email and in-app messaging, and social media engagement. Zipcar maintains close relationships with universities that provide access to campuses and various marketing channels to attract students who, upon graduation, may continue their relationship with the company. Through its Zipcar for Business program, it also offers direct-bill accounts and employee benefit programs to companies and governments that support the use of Zipcar vehicles.
Licensing
The company has licensees in approximately 175 countries throughout the world. Licensed locations are independently operated by its licensees and range from large operations at major airport locations and territories encompassing entire countries to relatively small operations in suburban or rural locations. The company’s licensees generally maintain separate independently owned and operated fleets. Royalties generated from licensing provide it with a source of high-margin revenue because there are relatively limited additional costs associated with fees paid by licensees to it. In some geographies it facilitates one-way vehicle rentals between company-operated and licensed locations, which enables it to offer an integrated network of locations to its customers.
The company generally enjoys good relationships with its licensees and meet regularly with them at regional, national, and international meetings. Its relationships with the company’s licensees are governed by license agreements that grant the licensee the right to operate independently operated vehicle rental businesses in certain territories. The company’s license agreements generally provide its licensees with the exclusive right to operate under one or more of its brands in their assigned territory.
The company continues to optimize the Avis, Budge, and Payless brands by issuing new license agreements and periodically acquiring licensees to grow its revenues and expand its global presence.
Other Revenues
In addition to revenues derived from time and mileage fees from the company’s vehicle rentals and licensee royalties, it generates revenues from its customers through the sale and/or rental of optional ancillary products and services. The company offers products to customers that will enhance their rental experience, including:
Collision and loss damage waivers, under which it agrees to relieve a customer from financial responsibility arising from vehicle damage incurred during the rental;
Additional/supplemental liability insurance or personal accident/effects insurance products which provide customers with additional protections for personal or third-party losses incurred;
Products for driving convenience, such as fuel service options, roadside assistance services, electronic toll collection services, access to satellite radio, mobile WiFi devices, GPS navigation and child safety seat rentals; and
Products that supplement truck rental, including automobile towing equipment and other moving accessories, such as hand trucks, furniture pads and moving supplies.
The company also receives payment from its customers for certain operating expenses that it incurs, including vehicle licensing fees, as well as airport concession fees that it pays in exchange for the right to operate at airports and other locations. In addition, the company collects membership fees in connection with its car sharing business.
Fleet
The company offers a wide variety of vehicles in its rental fleet, including luxury vehicles, electrified vehicles, specialty-use vehicles and light commercial vehicles. Its fleet consists primarily of vehicles from the current and immediately preceding model year. The company maintains a single fleet of vehicles for Avis and Budget in countries where it operates both brands. A substantial majority of Zipcar’s fleet is dedicated to use by Zipcar.
Fleet Purchases
The company participates in a variety of vehicle purchase programs with major vehicle manufacturers. In 2024, it primarily purchased from the following vehicle brands: Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, Kia, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Jeep, Dodge, Subaru, Honda, Volvo, and Genesis.
Fleet Dispositions
The company sells vehicles direct to consumers through its retail locations and through RubyCar, its online retail sales platform, which offers customers the ability to purchase well-maintained, late-model rental vehicles from its fleet. The company disposes of its program vehicles in accordance with repurchase or guaranteed depreciation programs with major vehicle manufacturers.
Fleet Utilization
In 2024, the company’s average quarterly vehicle rental fleet size ranged from a low of approximately 667,000 vehicles in the first quarter to a high of approximately 736,000 vehicles in the third quarter. The company’s average car rental fleet size and utilization are typically highest in the summer months.
Fleet Maintenance
The company places a strong emphasis on the quality of its vehicle maintenance for customer safety and customer satisfaction reasons, and because quick and proper repairs are critical to fleet utilization. To accomplish this task, it has developed and continue to evolve specialized training programs for its technicians. The company’s Supply Chain Department reviews, distributes, and makes accessible original equipment manufacturer (OEM) technical service bulletins that can be retrieved electronically at its repair locations. In addition, it has implemented policies and procedures to promptly address manufacturer recalls as part of its ongoing maintenance and repair efforts to maximize the customer experience.
Seasonality
The company’s operations are also seasonal, with the third quarter (year ended December 2024) of the year historically having been its strongest due to the increased level of leisure travel during the quarter. It has a partially variable cost structure and routinely adjust the size, and therefore the cost, of its rental fleet in response to fluctuations in demand.
Competition
The company’s vehicle rental operations compete primarily with Enterprise Holdings, Inc., which operates the Enterprise, National and Alamo car rental brands; Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., which operates the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands; Europcar Mobility Group, which operates the Europcar, Goldcar, InterRent, Buchbinder, Fox Rent A Car and Ubeeqo brands; and Sixt SE.
The company’s Budget Truck operations in the United States competes with several other local, regional and nationwide truck rental companies including U-Haul International, Inc., Penske Truck Leasing Corporation, Ryder System, Inc., Enterprise Truck Rental, and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.
Intellectual Property
The service marks ‘Avis’, ‘Budget’, and ‘Zipcar’ and related marks or designs incorporating such terms and related logos and marks, such as ‘Plan On Us’, ‘We Try Harder’, and ‘Own The Trip, Not The Car’, ‘Preferred’, and ‘Fastbreak’ are material to its vehicle rental and car sharing businesses. The company’s subsidiaries and licensees actively use these marks. All of the material marks used by Avis, Budget and Zipcar are registered (or have applications pending for registration) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as in foreign jurisdictions. Its subsidiaries own the marks and other intellectual property, including the Wizard system, used in its business. The company also owns trademarks and logos related to the Apex Car Rentals brand in Australia and New Zealand, the Payless Car Rental brand in the United States and several other countries, the Maggiore and Morini Rent brands in Italy, the FranceCars brand in France and the Turiscar brand in Portugal. Its subsidiaries have also filed patent applications pertaining to fleet and connected car technology in the United States and other countries.
History
Avis Budget Group, Inc. was founded in 1946. The company was incorporated in 1974.
