Rental Car Companies Wake Up and Smell the Hybrid
August 3rd, 2007 Posted in Travel industry
As some welcome “do the right thing” news, U.S. car hire firms Avis and Enterprise announced new plans last week to add more hybrid cars to their lots. Avis is adding 500 Nissan Altima hybrids and Enterprise is adding 1,500 Toyota Priuses in the fall. So instead of just offering the boring clunker cars with bad gas mileage that are cast-offs from Detroit, you can opt for a car that’s better for the environment. (Something tells me those rental desk clerks will still keep asking me, “Would you like to upgrade to a SUV for free?”)
Hertz isn’t taking this lying down though. They now say they are going to one-up the others, but it will take longer. They are planning to have 3,400 Priuses in stock by next summer.
In all fairness, these companies can’t just snap their fingers and buy a few thousand hybrids. While gas-guzzlers are languishing in storage, the hybrids are getting bought up as fast as they come off the assembly line. You might have to call the specific rental agencies where you’re going to see if they have any available.
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