McLaughlin: "Enterprise the right partner to lead the future of car sharing in Toronto"
TORONTO, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Enterprise Holdings today announced that its regional subsidiary, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Canada Company, is purchasing AutoShare CarSharing Network Inc. In 1998, AutoShare was established as Toronto's first car-sharing organization, and today serves more than 12,000 local members.
Enterprise Holdings, through its regional subsidiaries, operates the flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. The company, the most comprehensive service provider in the car rental industry, also offers Enterprise CarShare - with a suite of products and policies specifically geared to the car-sharing customer experience - and Enterprise Rideshare, a leading carpooling and vanpooling program for commuters. It likewise operates Zimride by Enterprise, an online ride-matching program that connects hundreds of thousands of drivers and passengers, while partnering with colleges and universities to facilitate transportation-management solutions.
"This acquisition reflects our longtime commitment to offering sustainable transportation options throughout North America," said Ryan Johnson, assistant vice president overseeing Enterprise's CarShare, Rideshare and Zimride operations. "We are very excited and proud to become part of Toronto's car-sharing community, which AutoShare launched and has supported for more than 15 years."
The acquisition closes today; financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed. AutoShare will continue to operate under its current brand indefinitely, and will be owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car Canada Company and managed by its local Toronto division. All staff members will remain as AutoShare employees, with their benefits updated to match those currently offered to local Enterprise employees.
AutoShare will be served by Enterprise CarShare, which is a natural extension of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car network. Enterprise already operates 542 car rental branch offices in Canada, with more than 130 offices in the Greater Toronto Area alone. As a result, Enterprise is ideally positioned to run a successful, sustainable car-sharing program in a competitive marketplace like Toronto, with a lower member-to-car ratio, a fuel-efficient fleet and a commitment to deliver well-maintained, clean and up-to-date vehicles.
Today, Enterprise CarShare is available on more than 75 university campuses, 40 government and business campuses, and in nearly 20 major markets including New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Chicago. Enterprise CarShare offers hybrid, plug-in and fuel-efficient vehicles, delivering car-sharing technology's speed and economy to businesses, universities and government offices looking to enhance their fleet management operations along with their fiscal and social sustainability initiatives.
Sustainable Transportation Since 1957
Enterprise has been delivering transportation alternatives right where people live and work since 1957, an early example of today's "collaborative consumption" trend. Forty years later, it trademarked the term Virtual Car®, after recognizing the long-term impact of such a sustainable neighborhood-based business model. In fact, Enterprise featured the "virtual car" concept in a Toronto newspaper ad as early as 1997.
"Enterprise's leadership role in providing affordable, accessible and sustainable transportation options on a local basis is authentic and well documented," said Kevin McLaughlin, founder and president of AutoShare. "That makes Enterprise the right partner to lead the future of car sharing in Toronto. Its existing car rental network fosters flexible and economical options for an hour, a day, a week or even longer, benefiting both consumers who rely on mass transit during the week and those who simply cannot afford to purchase or maintain a vehicle on their own."
"Triple Bottom Line" Stewardship
Last fall, Enterprise CarShare was a key sponsor at the Shared Use Mobility Conference, hosted by the Transportation Sustainability Research Center. That is because Enterprise Holdings is a family-owned business, intuitively focused on the need to operate for the long term and with the next generation in mind.
This sense of "triple bottom line" stewardship is reflected in Enterprise's other partnerships with key stakeholders, too. For instance, Enterprise has joined forces with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the largest independent plant research center in the world, to establish the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels. The Institute's aim is to create the next generation of alternative fuel technologies from environmentally sound plant and algal sources, thus reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on non-renewable resources.
The company also is working with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 1 million trees throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as part of the Enterprise 50 Million Tree Pledge. Supported by a $50-million commitment from Enterprise, the private/public/nonprofit partnership already has resulted in nearly 8 million trees being planted in areas suffering damage from wildfires and other natural disasters (an interactive map of the plantings is available online).
For more information about Enterprise Holdings' corporate sustainability initiatives, please see its www.DrivingFutures.com website, plus its most recent Corporate Sustainability Report.
About Enterprise Holdings
Enterprise Holdings and its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management together offer a total transportation solution. Combined, these businesses - which include extensive car rental and car-sharing services, commercial truck rental, corporate fleet management and retail car sales - accounted for $16.4 billion in revenue, employed 78,000 and operated 1.4 million vehicles throughout the world in fiscal year 2013. Enterprise Holdings, through its regional subsidiaries, operates the largest fleet of vehicles in the world through a global network of neighborhood and airport locations under the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. Enterprise Fleet Management provides full-service fleet management to companies and organizations with medium-sized fleets. Other transportation services marketed under the Enterprise brand name include Enterprise CarShare, Enterprise Rideshare, Enterprise Car Sales and Enterprise Commercial Trucks. Operating through its regional subsidiaries, Enterprise Holdings is the largest car rental company in the world as measured by revenue, fleet and employees.
SOURCE Enterprise Holdings
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