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Avis Industrial Corporation company history timeline

1960

1960 - Avis Europe corporate offices are established in the United Kingdom.

1962

1962 - Investment banking firm, Lazard Freres & Company, buys Avis.

By 1962, Avis owned a fleet of 7,500 vehicles generating annual reven ue of $25 million.

1962: Lazard Freres & Company purchases Avis and moves its corporate headquarters to Garden City, New York.

1965

In 1965, having attained annual revenues exceeding $74 million, Avis was acquired by International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (IT&T); Winston V. Morrow, Jr., was appointed chief executive officer.

1972

Keeping pace with technological advances, in 1972 Avis introduced the first and largest computerized information system to be used in a United States car-rental business.

1973

In 1973 Avis launched its innovative Wizard reservation system which became the cornerstone of the company’s cornerstone.

1976

In 1976 Colin M. Marshall became chief executive officer of Avis, and in the following year the company was purchased by Norton Simon, Incorporated for $174 million.

1977

1977 - Norton Simon, Inc. buys Avis for $174 million.

1979

1979 - Avis enters a worldwide advertising and marketing agreement with General Motors and begins featuring GM cars in its fleet worldwide.

James F. Calvano succeeded Marshall as chief executive officer in 1979; that same year, Avis concluded an advertising and marketing agreement with General Motors, agreeing to feature GM cars in its worldwide fleet.

1980

Big automotive companies started taking an interested in the car rental industry in 1980, as top guns like Ford and Chrysler purchased controlling interest in some of the larger chain rental agencies.

1982

Price competition among the leading car-rental companies contributed to a $50 million loss for Avis in 1982; 2,400 jobs were cut as a result.

1983

Earlier, Avis had introduced a computerized checkout s ystem to its operations in Europe; by 1983, after further enhancement s, only a few seconds were required for this system to produce a comp leted rental agreement.

1983: Avis becomes a subsidiary of Esmark, Inc. after that fir m acquires Norton Simon.

1984

In 1984, Avis introduced Rapid Return, an aut omated self-service check-in device, to its United States franchises.

1985

"Beatrice Sheds Fat," Fortune, October 28, 1985.

1986

During 1986, Avis sold 65 percent of its European operations, known as Avis Europe PLC, to the public for approximately $290 million.

1987

In 1987 Avis introduced the Roving Rapid Return, a handheld computer terminal allowing customers to bypass the Avis counter.

1988

Alun Cathcart remained as group managing director and chief executive of what was now a public company, becoming chairman in 1988.

1989

1989 - Avis Cares®, a multifaceted program designed to increase renter/employee-owner safety, is introduced.

Also in 1989, General Motors bought out Wesray's 29 percent stake in Avis, Inc.

1992

In 1992 Avis also introduced to its Sacramento, California, market 20 Chevrolet Luminas that would operate on either M85--a combination fuel made up of 85 percent methanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline--unleaded gasoline, or a mixture of both.

1996

HFS Inc., the largest hotel franchiser in the United States and a franchiser of real-estate companies as well, paid $800 million for Avis in October 1996, purchasing both the ESOP interest and that of General Motors to gain full control.

1997

As HFS was laying plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of Avis Rent A Car stock, Vittoria retired as head of the company in February 1997.

In September 1997 Avis Rent A Car went public through the long-planned IPO, with about 75 percent of the company sold to the public and the remaining 25 percent staying in HFS's hands.

From November 199 6 to October 1997, accusations that Avis franchisees racially discrim inated against minorities who sought rental cars were raised in North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

The Truck Rental segment consisting of Budget truck rental operations in the United States Avis Budget Group was founded in December 1997 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, United States.

Cendant had been formed in December 1997 from the merger of Avis's former owner, HFS, and CUC International Inc., and it still owned the Avis brand name and reservations system.

1998

1998 - Avis announces secondary offering of its common stock.

1998 - Avis purchases Hayes Leasing Company, Inc., a franchisee in Texas, and also makes six other smaller acquisitions.

Hoenshell resigned abruptly in Decem ber 1998, ushering in an 11-month period of interim leadership at the company.

PHH was the world's largest fleet manager, with 700,000 cars and 1998 revenues of $42 5 million.

2000

2000 - Avis InterActive is introduced, the industry's first Internet-based reporting system.

Also in 2000, Avis sold an 80 percent stake in its U.K. fleet-management business to BNP Paribas SA for $800 million.

In early 2000, soon after Rand took over, Avis restructured itself to reflect its wider range of operations.

2001

In March 2001 a new chapter in Avis's history began, one with reverberations from the recent past.

2001 - Avis ties for number one in the J.D. Power ranking of business traveler satisfaction with rental car companies.

2001: Cendant acquires the 88 percent of Avis it did not alrea dy own in a $937.4 million deal; Avis moves its headquarters from Garden City, New York, to Parsippany, New Jersey.

2002

Siegel left the company in March 2002 to become president and CEO of US Airways Group, Inc.

In November 2002 he was also given responsibility for Budget Group, Inc., which Cendant bought out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2002 - Avis becomes the first and only rental car company to adopt the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's LATCH system ("Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children") as its standard for child restraint installation.

2002 - Avis is ranked highest for customer loyalty among 158 companies evaluated for the Brand Keys® Customer Loyalty Awards.

2003

Salerno, who had spent his entire career in the car rental industry, was named CEO in June 2003.

2003 - Avis launches a Spanish and Portuguese language version of Avis.com.

2003 - Avis Assist, the first hand-held GPS system is introduced.

2004

2004 - Avis launches Avis Access - the first car rental offerings for travelers with disabilities.

By 2004 Avis had committed itself to opening 100 new locations per year.

By 2004, however, Cendant had integrated a large portion of their operations.

2005

In October 2005 Cendant announced plans to break itself up into four publicly traded companies.

2006

2006 - Avis becomes Avis Rent A Car System, LLC.

2006 - Avis introduces 'Cool Cars', a collection of fun-to-drive vehicles that can be reserved by specific make and model

2006 - Avis becomes the first car rental company to offer electronic toll collection, by introducing eToll on the E-ZPassSM network.

2007

2007 - Avis is the first rental car company to offer customers portable wireless Internet with Avis Connect

2007 - Avis launches Avis First, a new customer loyalty program for frequent renters

2007 - Avis introduces "Chauffeur Drive," in conjunction with WeDriveU, Inc.

2007 - Avis expands eToll to Florida, Colorado and Puerto Rico

2007 - Another technology time-saving first from Avis: Avis.com is optimized for handheld devices

2008

2008 - Avis introduces next generation of where2 GPS

2009

2009 - Avis launches an iPhone application making it the United States' first-ever rental car app

2010

2010 - Avis is named the leading car rental company in customer loyalty by the Brand Keys® Customer Loyalty Engagement Index for the 11th consecutive year.

2010 - Avis launches next-generation iPhone and iPod Touch application

2011

2011 - Avis Budget Group, Inc. acquires Avis Europe plc.

2021

"Avis Group Holdings, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved April 15, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/avis-group-holdings-inc

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Founded
1959
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Headquarters
Upland, IN
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