Dollar, Thrifty Open 29 Car Rental Locations in Italy

Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport

Hertz announced that its Dollar and Thrifty Rent a Car brands have opened 29 corporate-owned branches across Italy.  These replace existing locations that had been operated by a former licensee.

Dollar nd Thrifty now have local or airport locations in major cities including Rome, Naples, Venice, and Milan.

“The launch of 29 Dollar and Thrifty corporate locations in Italy is part of our international growth strategy across the main destinations in Europe,” said Tom Kelley, Vice President of Dollar Thrifty International.

Dollar and Thrifty first started expanding in Europe in February 2013, when the brands opened up locations in Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Spain, and the Netherlands.  Along with these and Italy, the brands have a presence in Austria, Greece, the Balearic Islands, Portugal, Switzerland, and Germany, where the two launched 116 new branches earlier this year.

Dollar Rent A Car was started in 1965 by Henry Caruso, an entrepreneur who took on the larger rental car agencies at airport locations, resulting in action on the part of the Federal Trade Commission that prohibited any practices that discriminated against smaller companies vying for airport locations.  Thrifty Rental Car was formed in 1958 and acquired by Chrysler in 1989.  In 1990, Chrysler acquired Dollar, combined the two, and spun the combined entity off in 1997.  Hertz acquired Dollar Thrifty in 2012.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)