Enterprise Holdings history

The company initially focused on long-term leasing, but Taylor began to examine the potential for car rentals, entering this field in 1962.

In 1969 the company branched out of St Louis, opening an office in Atlanta, Georgia.

The energy crisis of 1974 hampered rent-a-car expansion for a short period.

Customer service was further enhanced in 1980 with the opening of the National Reservation Center, which enabled customers to call a toll-free number to rent Enterprise vehicles nationwide.

In 1987 Enterprise Capital Group purchased a cellular telephone company.

Meantime, in 1989, the company changed its name to Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company to reflect what had become by far its largest business, with more than 500 offices and a fleet of more than 50,000 rental vehicles.

The practice seemed to work for the company as Enterprise's revenues hit $800 million in 1990.

Enterprise already operated in nearly all of the nation's top 100 market centers by 1992, and the company's successful recruitment and training programs promised no delays in growth.

1993: Company opens its first international office, in Windsor, Ontario.

1994: First European office opens in Reading, England.

1995: First Enterprise on-airport rental location opens.

Meantime, Enterprise reached a milestone in 1996: it surpassed Hertz as the number one car rental company in the United States in terms of fleet size and number of offices.

International expansion had continued in 1997 with the opening of offices in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Germany.

In 1999 Enterprise launched its Rent-A-Truck business, which rented trucks for replacement and supplemental purposes to commercial businesses.

In 2001, the Washington University Enterprise Holdings Scholars Program was founded with a $25 million gift from Enterprise Holdings.

Revenues for fiscal 2002 were up just 3 percent, reaching $6.5 billion.

During 2004 more than $500 million in revenues was generated outside the United States, an increase of 20 percent over the previous year.

In 2006, Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked #1 in sales with $9 billion in sales; unclear what the geographical scope of this sales figure was.

In 2008, Enterprise piloted its first on-campus carsharing program at Washington University in St Louis.

The program, called WeCar, was introduced at University of South Florida in July 2009.

As of 2010, Enterprise ranked as the largest car rental company in North America, and was the only investment-grade company in the car rental industry.

A planned acquisition of Citer SA was announced in November 2011; this includes the acquisition of subsidiary Atesa.

In 2012, Enterprise launched a mobile concierge website accessible by scanning a QR code for smart phones.

On June 4, 2013, it was announced that Pamela Nicholson would assume the role of chief executive officer.

Triangle Rent A Car, another car-rental company based in Raleigh, North Carolina was acquired by Enterprise in 2015 and it was converted into Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

In April 2017, Enterprise acquired Dooley Car Rentals, a car rental business operating in Ireland.

On May 22, 2018, it was announced that Enterprise had purchased the naming rights of the Scottrade Center, home of the St Louis Blues.

In January 2019, Enterprise acquired Deem, a managed-travel technology platform that "includes Deem Work Fource and Deem Ground Work, a suite of online booking and travel technology products for business travelers, travel managers, travel-management companies and suppliers."