Car rental leader Hertz has moved to reassure staff and investors at Dollar Thrifty over job levels.
Hertz has announced that the potential takeover bid for Dollar Thrifty would not affect staffing for a minimum of three months; with the company’s Tulsa-based workforce guaranteed stability for that period should the proposed $1.3 billion acquisition go ahead.
Hertz CEO Mark Frissora made the announcement, and added that Hertz will continue the incumbent base wage, benefit, bonus and severance pay schemes for a minimum of 15 months after the conclusion of the transaction.
Frissora’s assurances came via a letter to letter to Dollar Thrifty CEO [...]

The Toyota Motor Corporation has lost a key courtroom battle in its case regarding out of control vehicles.
Product-liability lawyers won the right to have the manufacturer’s trade secrets revealed in litigation in the hearing over complaints relating to the over-speeding cars, with the presiding judge rejecting Toyota’s request for a ban on confidential information in pre-trial proceedings, thereby allowing disclosure to outside experts and consultants for the plaintiff. Toyota had requested that rival car makers be excluded from the information for confidentiality.
Toyota sought the exclusion to ensure that no proprietary information which could compromise the manufacturer’s competitive position by sealing [...]

ArgusCarHire.com, the leading site for European car rental, has warned of summer shortages.
The advisory warning to customers comes as reports of low availability continue to surface in the most popular European holiday destinations over the busy summer peak season.
Spanish resorts in particular are feeling the pinch, with Argus claiming that there are likely to be severe shortages in Mallorca, Alicante, Malaga, Ibiza, Menorca and Murcia – all traditional hot spots for UK holidaymakers. The low availability stems from the widespread fleet reductions forced upon car rental companies in the midst of the global travel downturn of 2009. Last year saw [...]

Thousands of holidays later this summer are under threat as airline union Unite announces a new strike ballot for British Airways cabin crew. The vote on whether to commence a new round of walkouts will take place on June 29 with the result due on July 27. If the vote is in favour of a walkout then the first strike could take place just seven days later.
If this happens than the disruption caused will be particularly bad news for those who go on holiday with their families during the school holidays. BA has condemned that announcement and described the move [...]

A US court has ruled that car-sharing companies should be afforded the same legal protection as rental organisations.
In what is widely believed to be the first such ruling, a judge in Queens, New York, has deemed that the burgeoning car-sharing outfit Zipcar would be able to avail itself of the same protections under the 2005 federal Graves Amendment, which protects rental car agencies against being liable for accidents that involve their vehicles.
Supreme Court Justice Roger N. Rosengarten said that while the members-only car sharing group is marketed as an alternative to using rental cars, it would nonetheless be able to claim [...]

The American Automotive Policy Council has declared its support for the abolition of discriminatory taxes on rental vehicles.
Acting on behalf of leading car manufacturers General Motors, Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group, the AAPC said it was in favour of doing away with the practice of different states imposing various taxes on users who either choose or are required to hire a car or truck. To date, around $7.5 billion has been accrued from the US consumer through these taxes.
Stephen Collins, AAPC President,  said that many of the taxes were imposed by the states were done so under the [...]

A leaked report, purportedly from the London Assembly Conservatives to Mayor of London Boris Johnson, proposes that all London Underground trains should be driverless. The Conservative report claims that removing drivers would not only save Transport for London an estimated £141 million per year in wages, but would also prevent future strike action.
The memo to Mr Johnson states that technology is already being used on the Central and Victoria lines which means that drivers are little more than door openers. It adds that upgrade work currently taking place will mean that this will also soon be the case on the [...]

A new game from the leading car rental specialist just in time for the World Cup.
With the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa now firmly underway, Avis is looking to capitalise on the football fever which is sweeping the globe with the launch of the new interactive game Road to Glory.
The game is designed for sports and quiz fans, and will be played out online, with a format similar to the World Cup itself. UK residents will be given the chance to partake in the ‘online tournament’, with the first prize being a week’s car hire from Avis anywhere [...]

Online travel company, Expedia, has announced the launch of a new charity initiative. TravelRelief has been set up by Expedia Affiliate Network to provide customers with the opportunity of donating money to charitable organisations participating in the scheme. Through TravelRelief.org, those booking a hotel through Expedia will now be able to contribute at least eight per cent of the booking price to a participating organisation of their choice.
According to senior director, marketing and strategy for EAN, Lily Cheng, TravelRelief has been designed to help non-profit organisations see moral support converted into financial support to help fund their projects. TravelRelief has [...]

The US car rental service designed for inner-city dwellers is planning a $75 million US stock market float.
Zipcar, which has been battling to achieve stead expansion since its inception a decade ago, hopes to raise $75 in the move, which was announced yesterday after the successful acquisition of the UK franchise Streetcar – which offers similar car-sharing and cost-savings plans. $5 million will be used to payback former Streetcar investors.
Zipcar can claim to be the pioneer of the US car sharing program, which sees members provided with daily or even hourly rates as part of the membership benefits. The program [...]