The Big Surprise Is Enterprise

• Published in: Fortune 2006-07, Vol.154 (2), p.140
• Main Author: Loomis, Carol J
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: Airports; Automobile rentals; Closely held corporations; Corporate profiles; Family owned businesses; Financial performance; Leasing
• ISSN: 0015-8259

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is by far the largest and most prosperous rental-car company in the U.S. For its fiscal year ending July 31, Enterprise will have about $9 billion in revenues, against the $7.5 billion that the runner-up, Hertz, recorded in calendar 2005. This is not a one-shot phenomenon. Enterprise has led Hertz in revenues since the late 1990s, with the other big rental names - Avis, Budget, National - eating the dust behind. The eminence of Enterprise will be particularly startling to those whose main experience with rental cars is on business trips. That's because Enterprise is the king of the off-airport market - it does most of its trade out of downtown and suburban locations, while Hertz rules the on-airport business. Both sides, though, are trying to repaint the picture. Hertz has significantly expanded its off-airport branches in the past couple of years, and Enterprise has spent a decade nursing a still-small but ever-growing airport presence. The face-off between the two companies is therefore sharp and interesting. But it is also poorly understood by the business world because its denizens know so little about one warrior in the fight - this very private entity, Enterprise. This article lifts the curtain and give an inside view of a very unusual operation.