Hertz Global Hldgs — Business Overview

What does Hertz do?

Hertz is one of the world's largest vehicle rental companies, operating through three consumer brands across roughly 160 countries. The company rents cars to travelers and businesses under the Hertz (premium), Dollar (mid-tier value), and Thrifty (deep discount) brands, allowing it to cover a wide range of price points from a single fleet. It also sells used vehicles from its rental fleet through Hertz Car Sales, both at physical locations and online.

The business is divided into two reportable segments:

As of December 31, 2025, Hertz employed approximately 26,000 people — about 21,000 in the U.S. and 5,000 internationally — and operated a peak fleet of roughly 442,000 vehicles in the Americas and 96,000 internationally.

How does Hertz make money?

The core revenue engine is time-based vehicle rental fees. Customers pay by the hour (in select markets), day, weekend, week, or month, with charges on either a fixed mileage or unlimited mileage basis. Rates vary by brand, location, and market conditions. Airport locations account for the majority of rental revenue, while off-airport locations contributed 34% of worldwide vehicle rental revenues in both 2024 and 2025.

Hertz layers additional revenue on top of the base rental rate through value-added services and fee pass-throughs. These include optional collision and theft waivers, liability and personal accident insurance, child seats, ski racks, satellite radio, premium roadside service, and fuel or charging fees. The company also passes through airport concession fees to customers where law permits. Franchisees — who pay royalties based on a percentage of their revenues — contributed approximately 2% of worldwide vehicle rental revenues in 2025.

Used-vehicle sales through Hertz Car Sales provide a secondary but strategically important revenue stream. When rental vehicles are retired from the fleet (average holding period of about 18 months in the Americas in 2025), Hertz sells them through retail locations, its e-commerce site, Amazon Autos, dealer wholesale channels, and auctions. Retail channels are prioritized because they deliver higher margins and can generate ancillary income from warranties, financing, and aftermarket products.

What market does Hertz operate in?

Hertz competes in the global vehicle rental industry, a market driven by business travel, leisure travel, and insurance replacement rentals. Demand for airport rentals closely tracks airline passenger traffic and GDP trends, making the business cyclical and sensitive to economic downturns or disruptions to air travel. The business is also seasonal — revenues peak in the second and third quarters (spring and summer) each year.

Several secular trends are reshaping the industry. Ride-sharing platforms (Uber, Lyft) have arguably reduced some urban rental demand but have simultaneously created a new revenue channel, as Hertz rents vehicles directly to ride-share drivers on a recurring basis. The shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) is another force the company is navigating — Hertz has included EVs in select markets but has been managing a fleet rotation that involves reducing its EV exposure after earlier overinvestment. Growing digitization of the booking process also means travel aggregator websites and apps play an increasing role in customer acquisition.

Who are Hertz's main competitors?

The vehicle rental industry is dominated by three large players, making it a consolidated but fiercely competitive market. Competition centers on price, vehicle availability and quality, location network, service, and loyalty programs. Hertz's principal competitors are:

Beyond these, Hertz also competes with local and regional rental companies, ride-share platforms, and peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplaces.

Hertz's claimed competitive advantages rest on brand recognition, network scale, and loyalty. The Hertz Gold+ loyalty program accounted for approximately 33% of worldwide rental transactions in 2025 — a meaningful share that drives repeat business, particularly among frequent business travelers. The company also highlights its global network of roughly 11,000 locations, its multi-brand strategy (covering premium through deep-discount price points from a single shared fleet), and digital tools like app-based check-in, digital rental agreements, and e-return as differentiators.

Where does Hertz operate?

Hertz has a genuinely global footprint, spanning approximately 160 countries and jurisdictions, though the United States is by far the largest single market. The Americas RAC segment, which is heavily U.S.-weighted, runs approximately 2,600 off-airport and 2,000 airport locations. The U.S. also accounts for the vast majority of Hertz's roughly 21,000 domestic employees versus 5,000 internationally.

In Europe, Hertz operates company-owned locations in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, and the U.K., with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. cited as the largest European markets. The International RAC segment had roughly 1,500 airport locations and 4,800 off-airport locations globally. Over 70% of Hertz's franchised locations fall under the International RAC segment, meaning much of the company's international presence outside of core European markets is operated by independent franchisees rather than directly by Hertz.

Outside North America and Europe, Hertz relies primarily on franchisees. In Asia Pacific (Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand), the Middle East (UAE), Africa (South Africa), and Latin America (Argentina, Panama), operations are conducted through partners rather than company-owned locations — limiting direct capital exposure but also limiting direct control over customer experience in those markets.