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Background Note
Avis was established as Avis Airlines Rent-a-Car System by Captain Warren E Avis (Warren), a former pilot and World War II veteran, in 1946, in Detroit, US. Warren, who traveled very frequently from one city to another, noticed that there was no efficient means of transport from airports to cities.
This inspired him to start a car rental company that catered to those people who wanted to rent their own vehicles as soon as they flew into a city. Although Hertz was already offering a transportation service, its branches were located in the city, not at airports. Founded with an investment of $ 85000, the company began operations with a fleet of just three cars at the Willow Run Airport in Detroit. The company was the world's first car rental operation located inside an airport. Within two years, the business was doing very well, and Warren opened a number of outlets in various business areas of the city and also one at Miami airport. Later it was decided to drop the word 'Airline' from the company's name. By 1953, Warren had launched franchise operations of Avis in Europe, Canada and Mexico.
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From the 1950s onwards, Avis changed hands many times as it was repeatedly sold and bought by a number of companies. In 1954, Warren sold the company to a Boston (Massachusetts) based financier and the owner of U-Drivit Corporation (a car rental company), Richard S. Robie (Robie), for $ 8 million.
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Subsequently, Robie
opened a number of outlets throughout the US and introduced the
innovative concept of a nationwide one-way car rental system. In this
system, customers could rent a car at one place and leave it at their
destination instead of returning the vehicle to the shop. By the late
1950s, the company had opened 185 branches throughout the US and 10
branches in Canada. In addition, the company entered into alliances with
other car rental companies in England, Ireland, France, Germany,
Switzerland and Scotland. Avis was the first car rental company to
introduce the concept of renting cars on a credit basis (late 1950's).
By 1956, Avis' fleet had expanded to 1200 cars and the company had
recorded a turnover of $ 4 million... |
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