Latest News
Avis Europe launches exclusive car rental partnership with Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts
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Avis Europe has announced a new three-year agreement to become the exclusive car rental partner for the leading international hospitality group, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts. Avis will provide a dedicated and tailored service for the hotel chain’s customers, including an easy-to-use and bespoke on-line booking system and fast on-line sign-up to Avis’ loyalty programme, Avis Preferred |
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The partnership will be launched on 1st November 2007, with a tailored promotion starting on 8th January 2008.
“Through partnerships with selected partners who share the same visions, we are able to offer unique value-adds to our demanding clientele”, states Stephanie Hilgers, Director of Partner Marketing at Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts. “Until now all our partners were airlines and credit card companies, so we are especially proud to now deal with an exclusive car rental partner.”
Simon Palethorpe, Group Commercial Director, Avis Europe says: “We are looking forward to working with Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts and building on the synergies between our brands. Like Swissôtel, we are focussed on providing additional and enhanced services to our customers, together with the highest levels of customer service, across our international network.“
Rewarded for innovation car rental giant scoops national customer service award for Blog
10 October 2007
Avis UK’s Marketing and Customer Support Team was presented with the SOCAP Award for Innovation in Customer Service at the recent National Customer Service Awards. This top accolade was given in recognition of the company’s recently launched blog www.wetryharder.co.uk .
The Avis We Try Harder blog was created in January 2007 to provide an informal platform for interaction with customers, allowing the company to listen to customers and take action from the comments posted by them. In addition the blog keeps customers abreast of inside tips and latest innovations at Avis. In the seven months since its launch, the blog has received nearly 400 comments in over 80 posts.
A panel of over 120 cross-industry professionals judged the National Customer Service Awards and Avis faced toughed competition from its fellow finalists, including Norwich Union and Kaizo. However, Avis came out on top having demonstrated a clear vision for the future of customer service by engaging in open and honest communication with its customers.
Collecting the award last week at Park Lane’s Grosvenor House Hotel, Eibhlin Payne, Head of Customer Support, Avis UK said “To receive this level of recognition for the blog is fantastic! The important thing now is to ensure that we continue to write informative content, and that we stay committed to listening to, and taking action from the comments posted by our customers. This is where the blog really adds value.”
The National Customer Service Award follows a successful year for Avis, with company currently holding a record ten accolades across the travel, fleet and customer service sectors.
Drive in Neutral’Avis offers customers CarbonNeutral® rentals via text
Oct 2007
Avis is launching its latest environmentally-friendly initiative across the UK this month, allowing customers to offset the CO2 emissions of their rental car via a text message. Car rental customers have been able to offset via www.avis.co.uk for a number of years, but now have the option to make their rental CarbonNeutral on-the-spot simply by sending a text message.
“We’re making it even easier for more of our customers to offset their rental carbon footprint by offering this SMS option,” says Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director, Avis UK. “For just £1.50 plus the cost of a text message, customers can text the word ‘NEUTRAL’ to 87202 to make their rental CarbonNeutral.”
The SMS service* is the latest in a long line of environmental initiatives from Avis. Since 2000 Avis has been a CarbonNeutral company, offsetting over 94,500 tonnes of CO2 through climate-friendly projects. In addition:
· In the UK Avis has reduced its rental fleet emissions by 4% since 2005 and has recently introduced 20 Prius vehicles
· Avis Germany has introduced natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet
· Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes.
· Avis Scandinavia offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet.
· Avis US has introduced 500 Nissan Altima Hybrid vehicles to its fleet, to add to the 1,000 Toyota Priuses launched earlier this year.
For further information on Avis’ environmental approach please visit www.avis.co.uk/environment
*The cost of the SMS service is one text message plus £1.50 on your phone bill including mobile operator/service charges of between 66p and 91p per message (varies by operator). Avis will make a further payment to meet The CarbonNeutral Company’s recommended fee of £1 per rental. Avis does not profit from offering this service. This service may be withdrawn without notice.
Avis Appoints new Corporate Social Responsibility Manager
Avis has appointed Jason van Zuydam as CSR Manager, EAMEA, as part of its continued commitment to reducing the Group’s environmental impact. Jason’s role has been introduced to increase CSR focus and expertise across Avis’ EAMEA business.
Jason previously held the role of Quality and Environmental Advisor UK for a large multinational managed services company, developing its ISO 9001 and 14001 certification. He also has a broad range of experience in the field of Environmental Management, including estuary, coastal, landfill and emissions management.
“We have many environmental initiatives across our European operations. Jason’s appointment will help us consolidate these activities into a common framework to ensure they are as effective as possible in meeting our longer term environmental goals,” says Lesley Colyer, Director Group HR and Corporate Affairs, Avis Europe. “His experience will help us to lead the industry in best practice.”
Jason’s responsibilities will include a comprehensive audit of environmental impacts, setting environmental targets and strategic direction for all areas of the Avis Europe business. He will also concentrate on building relationships with partners to develop and strengthen Avis as an environmental and social leader in the travel industry.
“Avis offered me an excellent opportunity to further strengthen a strong commitment to the environment and drive significant changes to an international business,” says Jason.
Avis Looking After the Environment Since 1998
28 August 2007
The environment is a very hot topic at the moment but rest assured Avis isn’t just ‘jumping on the bandwagon’. In fact, it has been working with The CarbonNeutral Company® (previously known as Future Forests) for the last eight years, and was actually the first car rental company to become CarbonNeutral®.
The CarbonNeutral® Company works with Avis to help it measure and reduce its CO2 and then offset (or neutralise) any unavoidable emissions - this means that every tonne of CO2 Avis produces is offset through climate-friendly or forestry projects.
The facts….
- Avis is already CarbonNeutral® across Europe and has offset 94,500 tonnes of CO2 since 2000
- It offers its customers the option to offset their car rental carbon footprint for just £1- last year 23% more customers offset their rentals with Avis
- Avis is committed to continuing to reduce its carbon footprint
- Green Champions appointed in each country
“There is board-level commitment to reducing the environmental impact of Avis’ operation,” says Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director, Avis UK. “Further to our efforts over the past decade, we are putting formal programmes and initiatives in place to meet more stringent targets this year and into the future.”
Last month Avis UK introduced 20 Prius vehicles onto its fleet following the announcement, in February, that Avis Germany introduced natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet at 19 locations in 15 cities across the country.
Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids across the country, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes. Avis Scandinavia also offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet. Avis Announces 4% fall in rental fleet emissions
August 2007
Avis has reported excellent progress in reducing the CO2 emissions of its 18,500-strong rental fleet.
Emissions have fallen by nearly 4% to an average of 157g/km per car between 2005 and 2007, and it hopes to see a further fall over the next couple of years. This figure is way below the SMMT's* average of 167.2 g/km for new vehicles sold in 2006.
Avis has achieved this reduction through working with manufacturers to add more lower emission vehicles to its fleet, as well as increasing the number of diesels in its key volume car groups.
Cars on the Avis fleet from Citroen, Fiat, Honda and Mazda all generate on average between 133 and 149g/km, while Avis has been sourcing more ‘green’ cars higher up the size range.
“We have been working hard to bring down emissions and the work is really starting to pay off,” explained Avis fleet director Paul Hainsworth.
“Ever since we began working with Future Forests, now known as The CarbonNeutral Company®, in the late 1990s the environment has been a key priority for Avis and we intend to keep this progress going in the coming years,” he added.
Avis recently introduced 20 Toyota Prius vehicles onto its UK fleet and in February Avis Germany added natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet at 19 locations in 15 cities across the country.
Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids across the country, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes. Avis Scandinavia also offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet.
Just last week Avis US announced that it will introduce 500 Nissan Altima Hybrid vehicles to its fleet, to add to the 1,000 Toyota Priuses launched earlier this year.
Top Tips on economical driving from Avis
Following Avis’ long term collaboration with The CarbonNeutral® Company, the car hire giant is offering its customers top tips on reducing fuel consumption and vehicle pollution. These handy hints are available online at www.avis.co.uk or on the company’s new blog www.wetryharder.co.uk
“Climate change is high on everybody’s agenda at the moment and we have been proactive in giving motorists realistic choices when it comes to reducing their carbon footprints,” says Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director, Avis UK.
“The tips on economical driving are available to all our customers and they can also opt to offset their emissions through our partnership with The CarbonNeutral® Company. When customers book online they simply click on the link at the end of their booking to add £1 towards the cost of planting enough trees to offset the CO2 from their rental.”
Top Tips from Avis
· Drive Smoothly
Try to avoid accelerating too hard - pulling away too fast can use up 60% more fuel than accelerating smoothly
· Change Gear Efficiently
Changing gear at 1,500 to 2,500 rpm can save up to 15% on fuel - and reduce emissions by the same amount
· Concentrate
Look ahead and anticipate road conditions and other people's actions - this reduces the need for hard braking and acceleration, and so will help you drive more efficiently
· Avoid Short Journeys
Short journeys on a cold engine use up to twice as much fuel as a warmed up engine, producing more pollution - only make necessary journeys
· Don't Rev!
Avoid revving the engine unnecessarily - this wastes fuel and increases harmful emissions
· Limit Your Speed
Observe the speed limits - this reduces emissions, optimises fuel consumption and improves pedestrian safety
· Plan Your Journeys
Plan your journeys to avoid peak periods, road works and getting lost - you'll have a more relaxing journey and waste less fuel
· Traffic Jams
If stuck in a traffic jam for more than a couple of minutes, turn off the engine to cut exhaust emissions and conserve fuel
· Keep Your Cool
Using air vents, rather then open windows, can reduce fuel by 4%. Air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by up to 2 litres per 100km
· Drive Carbon Neutral®
Avis is the first car rental company in the world to offer Carbon Neutral® driving to all its customers. By visiting www.avis.co.uk , you can rent a car and offset the CO2 emissions from your car hire! Even better, why not become an entirely Carbon Neutral® driver? Visit www.carboneutral.com for further information
Avis on track with Silverstone Partnership
Avis Rent A Car has been appointed Official Car Rental Partner to Silverstone for the second year running. In line with its environmental commitment, Avis, the world’s first CarbonNeutral® car rental organisation, will be offsetting the 3,000 miles covered by its Heliport Shuttle fleet of 60 Renault Grand Scenics at this year’s Formula One™ Santander British Grand Prix .
Xavier Vallee, Head of Marketing at Avis said, “It’s fantastic for Avis to once again be appointed Official Car Rental Partner to Silverstone and even better that we’ve been able to extend our environmental commitment to the impact of our partnership activities. I hope that other brands may follow in our CarbonNeutral footprints.”
Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Ltd said “CarbonNeutral status is something we at Silverstone value highly in our suppliers, and I am delighted that Avis will be working with us at this year’s Grand Prix.
Avis has been CarbonNeutral® for the last nine years and, in co-operation with The CarbonNeutral Company (www.carbonneutral.com), has offset 76,500 tonnes of CO2 through a combination of forestry and climate-friendly projects. Avis also encourages customers to take up the CO2 offset option when booking car rental on its website www.avis.co.uk - one simple click allows the customer to carbon neutralise their rental for just £1.
The Formula One™ Santander British Grand Prix is on the 6th to 8th July 2007. For more information visit www.silverstone.co.uk
Avis Introduces the Toyota Prius to UK Fleet - Exempt from the Congestion Charge and Easier on the Environment
Avis is now offering customers the chance to rent a Toyota Prius from its London locations. The environmentally friendly hybrid vehicle, which runs on a mixture of petrol engine and electric motor, is available to book through the Avis Prestige website www.avisprestige.com and is exempt from the congestion charge.
The launch of the 20 Prius vehicles onto the UK fleet follows the announcement, in February, that Avis Germany introduced natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet at 19 locations in 15 cities across the country.
Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids across the country, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes. Avis Scandinavia also offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet.
“The expansion of our environmental offerings across Europe is an important part of our commitment to driving real change in the industry,” says Daniel McCarthy Commercial Director, Avis UK. “Our environmental commitment has been palpable since we launched our relationship with The CarbonNeutral Company® in 1998 and within the past five years Avis Europe has offset 76,500 tonnes of CO2 through a combination of forestry and climate friendly projects.”
Avis was the world’s first carbon neutral car rental company, having joined forces with The CarbonNeutral Company® (previously known as Future Forests) in 1998 to offset the emissions from its UK operations. Avis has also dedicated one tree for every car in the Avis rental fleet planted in forests throughout the UK. In the UK, Avis customers are able to choose to offset the CO2 emissions of their rental online at www.avis.co.uk
Avis leads the car rental industry with its new blog
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Avis Rent-A-Car has joined the online blogging community by launching wetryharder.co.uk. The new customer focussed blog site is the first of its kind for the car rental industry. It will encourage customer feedback and provide up-to-date information on news and offers from the Avis team.
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Following on from Avis’ successful Inspired Change programme in 2006, the company is once again taking the lead in the car rental industry with the blog; progressing its honest and open approach to customer service. It also serves as an additional marketing channel for Avis, enabling the team to share its plans with customers, as well as acting as a platform for information sharing.
Digital marketing agency Web Liquid was responsible for the strategic planning, research and development of the blog, in addition to the wider remit of managing user-generated content via the many growing social media platforms.
Web Liquid managing director David Shiell commented, “Avis has proven itself to be incredibly forward thinking in its development of this project. In today’s marketing environment, one of the biggest challenges in building and maintaining a brand is in understanding the true ‘identity’ of that brand and ensuring no significant gap exists between what a company communicates and how the consumer perceives that company."
“By monitoring user-generated content posted on blogs and forums, we were able to gain an insightful understanding of consumer sentiment on the topic of car hire. This research enabled us to confidently, and intelligently, develop the blog using a bottom-up approach to content rather than the usual top-down corporate mandate. The blog will help Avis to start conversations with customers, building relationships and in turn developing affinity with the brand,” concluded Shiell.
Xavier Vallee, Head of Marketing, Avis UK explains the importance of exploring new channels for communication with customers, “Blogging and online communications are the future, and it is important for us to offer our customers the most technologically advanced outlets for communication.” He continues, “From our point of view, adding the blog as an outward communication channel will enable us to reach a wider audience with our latest news and car rental offers. Ultimately this creates our very own targeted community of authoritative consumers.”
“We have been reading what some customers have had to say about car hire on other blog sites, and we felt it was our duty, as a customer focussed car rental provider to offer this online community site.”
The blog is live now at wetryharder.co.uk and is facilitated through a core team at Avis UK including Xavier Vallee and Rob White from Avis Marketing, Eibhlin Payne and Stephen Spiers from Customer Support.
Avis Select Series: Greater Customer Choice
30 April 2007
Avis is please to be launching a new service …it’s ‘Select Series’ of Audis and Volkswagens available at all major locations across the country.
Avis Select Series, which replaces what was known as our Choice Fleet, allows customers to choose and guarantee the specific model that they want to hire. The Select Series offers the Audi A4 Saloon, A4 Estate and A6 - all with free satellite navigation - and the Volkswagen Golf, Passat Estate and Sharan. |
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Avis Select Series is available from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham Airport, Manchester Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow Airport and, in another first for Avis, is also now available from our central London location; Mayfair.
Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director, Avis UK, said “The introduction of Avis Choice Fleet was a popular innovation in the car rental market in 2006, a breakthrough never adopted before on this scale in the car rental industry.
“We are now taking this ‘Choice’ concept and expanding it, responding to the excellent customer demand and feedback that we had last year. The new name, Select Series, reflects both the fact that we are giving customers an even greater choice of cars to select from and the fact that those vehicles are themselves high quality, select models. We are delighted to add Audi models to our Select Series. Like the VWs, they are cars which our customers have told us they prefer to drive.”
27 April, 2007
Remembering Warren Avis
Founder of Avis Rent A Car, Warren Avis passed away at the age of 92. He was an innovator and entrepreneur who left an indelible mark in American business as the founder of Avis Rent A Car. He died of natural causes at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
A decorated bomber pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, Warren Avis opened the world’s first car rental location at Willow Run Airport in Detroit in 1946, followed by stations in Miami, Florida and Ypsilanti and Michigan, with an investment of $85,000. He started with two employees and fewer than 200 cars. Avis said he got the idea for the business when he was a pilot and was unable to find ground transportation at airports.
Avis became the nation's first company to rent cars at airport locations. During the 1950s, the company grew rapidly through franchised and corporate-owned expansion. Under Warren Avis' leadership, Avis Rent A Car introduced a number of innovative business practices, including national franchise licensing and enhanced customer service practices. In 1954, Avis sold his interest in the business for $8 million.
Born in Bay City, Michigan in 1915, Avis joined the military after completing his education. After selling the car-rental giant, Avis continued his entrepreneurial career and began converting rental properties to condominiums. In the 1970s, he founded Behavioural Science Training Laboratories Inc., which focused on human relations in business management. In later years, Avis ventured into other retail and technology businesses and was the author of seven books, including his 1986 business memoir "Take a Chance to be First," a chronicle of the Avis Rent A Car story.
We would like to express our condolences to the Avis family during this difficult time.
Avis Launches Worldwide Sale
Avis car rental launches exceptionally cheap rental rates in a Worldwide Sale to allow drivers to make the most out of spring travel plans.
Car rental company, Avis, has launched a worldwide sale offering discounted car rentals from as little as £12 per day in order to encourage people who have booked a holiday or are travelling on business this spring, to make the most of their travel plans |
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The sale which runs from 16th April through to 8th June inclusive, sees Avis offering significantly reduced car rental rates across most European countries, plus all US and Canadian destinations - for rentals up until 30th June. These cheap car hire rates - from £12 per day - are available for both holidays (7 days rentals) and weekend rentals. With up to 35% off a standard rental and available at over 100 destinations, it’s perfect for a spring and early summer break.
Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director at Avis UK commented:
“We wanted to make car rental as cost effective and accessible as possible for both business and leisure travellers. Many people are looking to book a break at this time of the year to banish the winter blues, and hiring a car is without doubt, one of the best ways of getting around and seeing the sights. For those travellers not lucky enough to be on holiday, the discounted car rental offer is also available for those people travelling on business.”
Avis believes that these discounted rates, combined with its industry leading product developments made during 2006, will help more people across Europe make the most of their travel plans and budgets. The successful innovations by Avis last year were developed after extensive customer research and provided greater speed of service, clarity of communication, increased satellite navigation services, fuel options and more car choice. These service improvements along with the significantly lower car rental rates featured in the Avis Worldwide Sale provide customers with the best possible rental experience and the best possible price.
For more information about the reduced car rental rates in the Avis Worldwide Sale, please visit www.avis.co.uk/Worldwidesale or call the Avis Worldwide Reservations on 0844 581 0011.
Welcome to our new look website.
You told us you'd like faster and easier online booking - we listened.
From 'Your Account' and 'Shopping Basket' features to flight number search and simplified car selection, everything is designed to save you time online. |
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The new Avis website features include:
- New search facility enabling you to search for your ideal rental location by name, post code or even your flight number
- Simplified car selection, allowing you to choose your vehicle via size, petrol type or even transmission
- Your account, speeding up your booking process and allowing you to manage all of your details online
What do you think of our new website?
We are keen to hear what you think of our new website. Please click here to send us your comments.
Thank You.
Disabled Parking Permits (Blue Badge)
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The EU Model Parking Card (Blue Badge) for people with disabilities has been adopted across Europe. Therefore visitors to the UK can use their cards with rental cars as the cards are issued to individuals rather than for specific vehicles. EU visitors should be advised that their cards are applicable but that the parking concessions in the UK may be different to those in their own country. |
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The general concessions in the UK are:
- On roads and in car parks, parking places reserved for disabled people are marked with a wheelchair symbol.
- Some car parks allow vehicles displaying the Blue Badge to be parked free of charge but this should be checked via car park notices.
- Parking is allowed on prohibited roads unless there is a ban on loading or unloading and provided that no obstruction is caused - for up to 3 Hours in England and Wales, no time limit in Scotland and Northern Ireland unless local restrictions apply.
- Parking is free of charge and without time limit on roads where payment is required, unless signs indicate otherwise.
- Parking is without time limit on roads where parking is free but restricted by time, unless signs indicate otherwise.
In all cases EU visitors should always be careful about where they park and check locally what the parking signs say and not to park causing obstruction or danger. They should also display a notice in English, alongside their Blue Badge, explaining that they are a disabled visitor from another EU country. The notice should say "The person displaying this parking card is a disabled visitor from another European country and is entitled to the same parking concessions as a disabled resident of your country"
Avis UK Voted Times Top 100 Company
(March 2006)
Avis UK is celebrating being named the 60th best company in the 2006 Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For Awards. As in 2005, Avis is the only car rental company to appear on this prestigious list.
Top 100 achievements are based on the views of employees rather than a panel of judges. They rate the company on eight key factors covering such issues as leadership, personal development, pay and working conditions, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Stuart Gent, Managing Director, Avis UK says: "A key focus for us is to be a great company to work for, where we live our ethos of 'We try harder' every day.
"Our people form the foundation of our success. It is they who meet, speak to and provide a service to our customers. We are a service provider first and foremost, and so it is essential that our team are happy, satisfied and fulfilled in their work, enabling them in turn to deliver the best possible service.
"I'm delighted that our team feel that Avis is a great place to work and we remain committed to listening to their feedback and making improvements. Many of our new ideas and initiatives are inspired by our people and we want to ensure that they continue to feel valued for the important role they play."
For more information on the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For 2006 visit www.bestcompanies.co.uk.
Avis expands its environmental offering across Europe
27 February 07
- VW Touran EcoFuel vehicles join German Fleet-
- Avis Portugal reduces CO2 Emissions by 50 tonnes
Avis Rent A Car has expanded its environmentally friendly fleet in Europe with Avis Scandinavia, Germany and Portugal leading the way in reducing its customers’ carbon footprint.
This month, Avis Germany introduces natural gas VW Tourans to its fleet at 19 locations in 15 cities across the country.
Avis Portugal introduced hybrid cars to its fleet in 2005 and currently operates 50 hybrids across the country, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 50 tonnes. Avis Scandinavia also offers customers the chance to rent environmentally friendly vehicles with over 400 ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius vehicles on its fleet. In the UK, Avis customers are empowered to choose to offset the CO2 emissions of their rental while booking online at www.avis.co.uk
“The expansion of our environmental offerings across Europe is an important part of our commitment to driving real change in the industry,” says Daniel McCarthy Commercial Director, Avis UK. “Our environmental commitment has been palpable since we launched our relationship with The CarbonNeutral Company in 1998 and within the past five years Avis Europe has offset 76,500 tonnes of CO2 through a combination of forestry and climate friendly projects.”
Avis was the world’s first carbon neutral car rental company, having joined forces with The CarbonNeutral Company (previously known as Future Forests) in 1998 to offset the emissions from its UK operations. Avis has also dedicated one tree for every car in the Avis rental fleet planted in forests throughout the UK.
Avis provides solution for cost effective and environmentally friendly car ownership
February 2007
The London borough of Richmond took the national and international lead against climate change this week, by taking the decision to introduce emission-based parking charges for all residents. Charges for a parking permit will now be based on the size and carbon emissions of a vehicle, meaning some families will now pay up to £750 per year to park their car.
Avis Rent a Car considers this as an opportunity for motorists to re-evaluate traditional car ownership. Downsizing private vehicles can help reduce a family’s carbon footprint and be kinder on the pocket too.
“The latter half of 2006 saw an increased focus on the effect of the motorist on the environment,” explains Daniel McCarthy, Commercial Director, Avis UK. “Schemes to make motoring more expensive have been highly publicised, however there has been little focus on providing the motorist with a practical alternative for their mobility needs.”
Following the publication of the STERN and Eddington reports last year, Avis commissioned some research into the cost of providing motorists with an option to downsize their car, and rent a larger vehicle when required. Savings amounted to over £7,500 per year.
Avis considered the following scenario: Mr and Mrs Smith have two children, they live in central London. They currently own a Range Rover Sport 2.7TD used mainly by Mrs Smith to take the children to school and on weekly shopping trips. The family take two holidays abroad to France each year, in both instances they drive. Mr Smith travels to work on the tube each day. Avis would suggest downsizing their vehicle to something smaller and more economical, e.g. a Peugeot 107, 1.0 Urban 5-door (petrol), and renting a larger vehicle for their two holidays each year.
Cost of 12 months ownership for a Range Rover Sport 2.7TD and an annual tube pass: £14,228
Cost of downsizing to a Peugeot 107, 1.0 Urban 5-door, renting a large people carrier from Avis for 4 weeks each year and an annual tube pass: £7,606
“We have seen the adoption of a similar scheme in Australia,” adds McCarthy. “A substantial rise in oil prices has prompted people to downsize their regular car to a more economical model, and then hire a large vehicle when the need arise.”
Downsizing is a great option for people who still need a car during the week, however in many urban areas cars are left parked on the side of the road and only used at weekends.
In this situation, Avis would encourage people to ditch the car in favour of using public transport during the week and renting a vehicle at weekends.
“We based our figures on a couple living in central London, owning a large 4x4, such as a Range Rover. Generally the vehicle would not be used during the week, and only occasionally at weekends to visit friends or family,” explains McCarthy. “Our figures show an average couple can save thousands of pounds a year by using public transport throughout the week and renting a vehicle when required.”
Avis Diesel Rental Fleet Increases by 7% since January 2005
(January 2006)
Avis Rent A Car has seen the diesel penetration of its 18,500 strong rental fleet increase over the past 12 months.
It has risen from 11% to 18% and Avis anticipates it increasing to over 20% in 2006 as it works with manufacturers to source more diesel cars to meet demand.
At the same time Avis has seen drivers misfuelling diesel cars with petrol stabilise on the back of more drivers running diesel cars.
Avis puts the diesel growth down to three key areas:
- The acceptance finally by corporate and retail drivers that they are happy to drive a diesel car.
- More fleet rental policies are being formulated that insist Avis put their drivers predominantly into diesels.
- More diesel cars are going into the rental sector from manufacturers, because of a strong demand for used diesels in the second hand market.
"We are working with more companies to set up structured rental policies that look at reducing cost and improving fleet efficiencies," explained Stuart Gent, Avis Rent A Car's Managing Director.
"We recommend diesel where drivers are travelling long distances or using larger cars such as MPVs. Based on these recommendations, more companies looking to reduce their overall rental fuel costs, we have had to increase our diesel fleet accordingly. We are constantly looking to source more diesels," he added.
With the advent of increased diesel penetration in the fleet market, manufacturers are now more comfortable to spread their rental volume across petrol and diesel, mainly because of the stronger demand for diesel cars in the used market.
With more company motorists now driving diesels, the age old rental problem of misfuelling has stabilised. Currently Avis is experiencing around 20 incidents a month, many of which were down to inbound renters or UK based retail motorists rather than corporate renters.
"We have a constant education programme going on to ensure drivers don't misfuel their car when we hand over a vehicle and in recent months the number of incidents has stabilised. This is good news overall for fleet costs as misfuelling is classed as driver abuse so the hirer or their company has to foot the bill to repair the car," said Gent.
Avis UK Extends 24 Hour Airport Locations
(January 2006)
With business travellers needing more flexibility than ever, Avis UK has extended the number of locations open 24 hours with five additional airport sites. The round-the-clock service, has been available for a number of years at Heathrow and Gatwick and has now been extended into Birmingham, Bristol, Stansted, Manchester and Glasgow airport locations from the 1st December 2005.
Stuart Gent, Managing Director, Avis UK comments "In an ever growing travel market our customers require increased flexibility and convenience. For customers catching an early flight or landing in the twilight hours the flexibility of having 24-hour access to their rental vehicle is invaluable, therefore those renters worried about dropping off or collecting their Avis car need no longer be concerned."
In addition to the 24-hour locations, Avis also uses the latest automated, key collection system to provide an out of hours solution for key business customers at a further 22 sites. Keys are held in secure safes outside each rental station and customers are issued with a passcode to open the safe and access the keys without delay.
Avis Launches New Rental Agreement In Response To Customer Feedback
(January 2006)
Following a trial earlier in the year, Avis launched its new 'transparent' Rental Agreement this week at the opening of its new design format rental location at Gatwick Airport, South Terminal (8 December 2005). Gatwick and Stansted Airports are both now using the new agreement with a planned roll out throughout the UK Avis rental network by the end of 2006.
In early 2005 Avis initiated a major customer research campaign, speaking directly to over 12,000 customers across Europe. It was clear from customer feedback that there was a need for greater clarity and improved efficiency throughout the rental process. This customer insight has been used to develop a strategy of 'gradual reinvention' and Avis' aim is to improve the customer experience throughout all stages of the rental process, from booking through to final payment.
Avis now has a new simple to understand, clearly laid out Rental Agreement that explains everything the customer needs to know when renting a car. There is nothing hidden, it is extremely straightforward, designed to make the rental process easier, quicker and clearer and customers only have to sign it once. The new Rental Agreement is available in a choice of eight European languages at UK and European airport locations from late 2005/early 2006.
Stuart Gent, Managing Director, Avis UK explains: "When I joined Avis a year ago, myself and the Avis team across Europe, looked with fresh eyes at the company and the rental industry as a whole. It was vital to find out more about what our customers wanted, needed and expected from us."
Stuart continues: "The insight gained from our customers has identified where changes are needed and we are already making those changes. The Rental Agreement has been designed wholly with the customer in mind and is just one of many improvements that will be introduced throughout 2005 and 2006. Our research findings highlighted that customers are concerned about perceived 'hidden charges' when they rent a car. So, our new rental agreement is simply laid out, uses clear language and contains everything the renter needs to know. Our aim is to restore trust, so that our customers feel that they can clearly understand the terms of the rental before they take the keys."
The new Rental Agreement clearly details and groups all the rental information the customer needs:
- With a line-by-line breakdown of costs.
- Vehicle details are clearly presented, with the fuel level displayed at the start of the rental.
- For price transparency all costs, mandatory and optional, are grouped together and total prices displayed.
- The Agreement can be printed in the customer's native language to make sure they can clearly understand all the information.
- The customer only has one document to sign which contains all the information they need.
- There is a clear damage report.
- There are no 'hidden charges.
Avis Portugal is offering a hybrid vehicle
In partnership with Quercus (the major portuguese environmental non-governmental organisation) and Honda, Avis Portugal is offering a hybrid vehicle (petrol-electric technology) in its fleet.
At first sight, the Honda Civic IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) looks like an ordinary car, however what makes it different is its revolutionary petrol-electric technology.
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How does it work?
The Civic IMA combines a conventional 1.4 L petrol engine, with an electric motor, which assists the petrol engine as you accelerate or as you go up hill. As you slow down or brake, the electric motor acts as a generator recharging the battery, which is stored out of sight behind the rear seats. The batteries of the IMA system don't need an exterior energy source to recharge.
Furthermore, when the vehicle comes to a complete stop it will switch itself off (auto stop) and when you depress the clutch and engage first gear it will automatically restart itself.
What are the benefits?
The Civic IMA is an ordinary and comfortable 4-door vehicle, combining excellent petrol consumption (4,9L / 100 km) with reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Besides saving on petrol costs, the vehicle has a positive environmental impact.
The driving performance doesn't have to be sacrificed, as the Civic IMA has a maximum power of 90 horsepower.
The main advantage of the Civic IMA is that it drives just like any other petrol-driven car, therefore you don't need to change the way you drive.
Technology of the future in a vehicle today, available for rent at one of Avis Portugal Mainland stations.
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