Car rental industry

Abstract

The history of the car rental industry is almost as old as the history of the car industry. The first car rental was done with the first real mass-produced car: The "Ford T" by a man called Joe Saunders who rented his car for ten cents per mile, using a mileage counter. In 1925, Joe Saunders had car rental agencies in twenty one states in US and after World War II, the car rental industry grew because of the growing success of the airline transport. At the same time, Warren Avis, founder of the Avis Company, focused almost all his business on airports and surrounding areas. The industry met with some troubles when, after September 11, 2001, and the terrorist attacks in New York, the airline industry slowed down. But since the last few years, the market is getting better notably according to the fact that environmental issues are really strong nowadays and rent a car, rather than having one, can be a good way to be an "eco-citizen". For instance in Paris, according to the director of Rent-A-Car France, 50% of the citizens do not own a car.