Car rental giant Hertz says it will enter the car-sharing market in a big way later this year.
A senior vice president at Hertz tells the Boston Globe that the company will unveil a new car-sharing program in several major U.S. cities, an effort, in part, to draw more business to Hertz’s 1,600 locations that are not at airports.
Hertz is not saying exactly when it will begin its car-sharing program, or just how fast it might grow to include so-called second tier cities like Boston and St. Louis. Also, it has not released rates.
The company has been testing rentals by the hour for some time now, the Globe says.
Hertz would be the first major car rental company to step up and attempt to cut into the market share of Zipcar, currently the car-sharing leader, with more than 200,000 members in 50 North American cities.
UHaul and Enterprise are also said to be contemplating entering the car-sharing market.