Hertz wants to put you in the driver’s seat, especially if you’re looking for a used car. The car rental giant on Tuesday announced a new online buying channel that will allow potential buyers the ability to do everything from browsing inventory to setting up financing without ever leaving home. More from Headlight.News.
Hertz saw record retail sales of used cars during the second quarter.
For millions of travelers, the name, “Hertz,” may immediately bring to mind an airport rent-a-car counter. But the rental giant has long had another major line of business, eventually selling off the cars in its rental fleet.
And now, Hertz Global Holdings wants to make it easier for retail customers to find the used cars, trucks and crossovers they want by setting up a fully online marketplace for those vehicles.
On Tuesday, the company debuted the new HertzCarSales.com website which allows buyers to track down the vehicle they want, arrange financing and even negotiate a trade-in for the model they already own.
A “seamless journey”
The typical rental car is sold off after reaching around 36,000 miles.
“Our new e-commerce platform marks a major step forward in modernizing how we serve our customers with a seamless journey from browsing to ownership,” Gil West, Hertz’s CEO, said in a statement.
“By enhancing our digital capabilities, we’re meeting customers where they are and giving them greater visibility into our inventory, easier purchasing processes, and broader access to quality Hertz vehicles,” he added. “This also marks a critical milestone in executing our strategy to make retail our primary car selling channel.”
Hertz is by no means the only rental company that is in the used car business. After all, about one in five new vehicles sold each year goes into fleet use, rental companies, in turn, accounting for more than half of that business – 1.7 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2024.
Hertz goes online
The challenge has been to dispose of those vehicles once they’re ready to be replaced – typically after a couple years and about 36,000 miles on the odometer.
Until recently, most of the old rental cars have been dumped onto the auction circuit which, in turn, eventually transfers them to dealers around the country. Hertz and some competitors have set up their own retail stores to sell off some of that inventory, often generating higher prices than they get through the auction process.
The new digital service takes things into a new arena where Hertz hopes to challenge other online automotive operations like Carvana and CarMax, many of which blend online and brick-and-mortar operations.
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Tom Brady pitches in
Hertz originally hired Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady to hype the availability of EVs.
HertzCarSales goes a big step beyond what the company has already got going, such as its Rent2Buy operation. That program allows a potential customer to rent a Hertz vehicle for up to three days before deciding whether to then buy it. Hertz also launched a car buying service through Amazon, that online retail giant looking to expand its own operations with partnerships that also include a relationship with Hyundai.
As with virtually all other forms of retailing, industry planners have begun seeing substantial growth in the online automotive market. Between online and in-store channels, noted Hertz, it had its “best second quarter for retail vehicle sales in half a decade.”
To promote the newest online venture, Hertz is expanding its ties to football legend Tom Brady, a relationship that began in 2021. A formal marketing campaign, starring the player often called “the greatest of all time,” begins on October 1 and will show up pretty much in any medium with available ad space.
As for what the new digital retail outlet will offer: Hertz will market vehicles with a similar “certified” approach automakers like Ford and Hyundai have come up with to enhance their appeal. This includes a 115-point inspection – with repairs made where necessary. It’s backed up by a 12-mile, 12,000 mile Hertz warranty and, if available, any remaining factory warranty.
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