Hertz, Avis Each To Add 1,000 Hybrid Cars To Fleets By End Of This Month - USA Today

[hatrack]

In an apparent race to be seen as the greenest company in the industry, car rental giants Hertz and Avis are adding thousands of new, fuel-efficient hybrid cars to their fleets this month.

Hertz announces on Thursday that it is putting 1,000 Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrids into its U.S. fleet this month. They will be available at 50 big airport locations and in Manhattan.

The company expects to have nearly 2,000 hybrids in its 410,000-vehicle U.S. and European fleet by the end of this year and 4,300 by the middle of next year, Executive Vice President Brian Kennedy says.

Asked about its plans, Avis (CAR) said Wednesday that it will introduce 1,000 Priuses into its fleet by the end of this month. The Avis hybrids will primarily be available in California, with some in the Washington, D.C., area, Seattle and Portland, Ore., spokesman John Barrows says. Hertz and Avis say they'll guarantee hybrid reservations.

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-06-14-hertz-hybrids_N.htm

[kestrel91316]

1. Enterprise needs to do the same thing for it's neighborhood-based

rentals. Frankly, I think 90% of rental cars and taxis should be Priuses. But that's just me.

[Greyskye]

2. that's great!

My wife and I keep looking for hybrid rentals when we travel. So far, we haven't had any luck in the places we've traveled to.

Hopefully, this will be improving soon!