Enterprise Rent-A-Car Largest Buyer of New Automobiles in the United States; Company Now Has 600,000 Vehicles In Service

Business Wire, Jan 16, 2001

Business Editors/Automotive Writers

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2001

The little known rental car company that grew to become the largest car rental company in North America now buys more new automobiles in the U.S. than any other company or organization. Today, Enterprise Rent-A-Car's fleet of 600,000 vehicles represents 3.6 percent of the total number of cars and light trucks built and/or sold in the U.S. in 2000.

"Just fifteen years ago Enterprise was a small, regional company. Today, it is our largest customer and the largest buyer of new automobiles in the U.S.," said William J. Lovejoy, Group Vice President, North America Sales, Service and Marketing for General Motors. "The importance of Enterprise's growth and success to the auto manufacturing industry cannot be minimized."

In December of 2000, Enterprise Rent-A-Car reached 600,000 vehicles in service, including 500,000 rental and 100,000 fleet services (leased) vehicles. Responding to customer demand, Enterprise grew its combined rental car and fleet services operations by more than 81,000 automobiles in the past year alone.

This rate of growth is most significant when compared to Enterprise's operations in 1986, when the company, with only 30,000 rental and 20,000 fleet services vehicles in service, made a strategic decision to go beyond its regional confines and begin an aggressive nationwide expansion.

"We never intended to be the biggest, but rather to be the best in our industry by focusing on personalized customer service, professional employees, and affordable rates," said Andy Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the company. "By staying true to those principles and continually delivering exceptional customer service, we've realized remarkable growth. Our employees are doing a fantastic job of building this business at the local level one car at a time, and I salute each and everyone of them."

Enterprise, which surpassed its next closest competitor in 1997 to become the largest car rental company in North America, built its reputation as the company that specializes in renting vehicles to customers who need a replacement car as the result of an accident, mechanical repair or theft, or who require a vehicle for a special occasion such as a short business or leisure trip. Within the past year, at the urging of its local customers, Enterprise also began to expand its operations to serve air travelers and today serves 96 of the top 100 airports in the continental U.S.

Despite being a relative newcomer to the airport rental car market, Enterprise recently finished highest in customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power and Associates 2000 Domestic Airport Rental Car Customer Satisfaction Study, ranking above all seven of its veteran airport rental car competitors. In addition, Enterprise was recently named one of 100 companies achieving excellence in customer service through innovative uses of technology by CIO magazine. This is the second consecutive year the company was recognized by the magazine.

Founded in 1957, Enterprise Rent-A-Car (www.enterprise.com) has more than 4,400 locations in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland, and more than 46,000 employees. In the U.S., Enterprise offices are generally located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the population. Fiscal 2000 sales were $5.6 billion. For more information about Enterprise, visit its web site or call 1-800-Rent-A-Car.