Hertz Is Back in Business
Jane Lu
· 3 min read
Things are looking up for the American economy these days, especially for
rental car
companies like Hertz. The rental car business went through major challenges during the pandemic. Many of them faced bankruptcy and plummeting stock prices. Recently, Hertz has emerged from bankruptcy stronger than ever.
The pandemic devastated the rental car industry
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and border closures tanked almost all travel-related businesses. In May of 2020, the plunge in air travel forced Hertz to file for bankruptcy.
As
CNN
reported when the news hit, Hertz had been in business since 1918 and had survived other economic calamities, such as the Great Depression. As a result of the pandemic, the number of people passing through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports fell by 94% since 2019. This had a severe impact on rental car companies, which rely on airport rentals for two-thirds of their revenue. Hertz had to lay off 12,000 workers and furlough another 4,000.
To stay afloat, Hertz sold off more than 200,000 of its sidelined rental vehicles. Due to supply chain shortages, vehicle production has slowed. Hertz was able to take advantage of the high demand for
used vehicles
and these sales helped the company turn things around. Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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Some big investments and careful planning helped Hertz
MORE: Several Converging Factors Have Caused People to Keep Their Cars Longer Than Ever
Car and Driver
reported that Hertz has gone through a dramatic rebound. Hertz share prices had sunk below $2 during the worst of the pandemic, but are worth close to $9 these days.The company wasn’t confident that it could emerge out of bankruptcy but it attracted an investment of $5.9 billion from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management. Each firm will now have two representatives on the new Hertz board of directors to help steer the company's rebirth.
Hertz
reported that the new funds had allowed it to reduce corporate debt by 80%. This allowed the company's Plan of Reorganization to be approved by the bankruptcy court. Judge Mary Walrath said that the outcome "surpasses any result that I've seen in any Chapter 11 case that I've faced in my 20-plus years."Hertz plans to implement new customer service models so customers don’t have to wait in line to get keys to a rental car. In addition, the company will add more
electric
and alternative-fuel cars to their fleet.The future looks bright for rental car companies
As travel restrictions lifted and more people started to take trips again, rental car demand has been far surpassing supply. Demand is especially high due to continued vehicle shortages caused by supply chain problems and manufacturer slowdowns.
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