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24 SUPERBRANDS

MarketThe car rental business has existed in India forseveral decades.In its early days it was primarilyentrepreneurial in nature with most ownersoperating small fleets of vehicles in a geographywhere the service was located.Theneed for a network that operatednationally,offered standardisedservice and a professionalwork culture created theopportunity for bigcorporate houses toinvest in it.

The economicliberalisation had acascading effect. It broughtin its wake severalmultinational companies,new business oppor tunitiesand a fillip to the car rentalindustry to create an infrastructurefor customers seeking transpor t servicesthat they had been used to in other parts ofthe world.

Further,billions of dollars were poured intodeveloping highways and other business andtourism related facilit ies. One such beneficiary of

these huge investments was the car rentalbusiness.Today,this has emerged as a

recognisable businessopportunity.Although,stillsmall and restricted tobusiness hubs and touristcentres, car rentals have,nevertheless,crossed thecritical mass.

Notwithstanding thecontinuing buffeting of thepresent global economicslowdown, the worldwide

car rental marketis anticipated togrow at acompoundedannual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.50% in the

period 2007/2010.This increment, eventhough comparatively modest, is

expected to come from thedeveloping markets of China

and India as well as fromAustralia and the MiddleEast (Source: industr yestimates).

Internationally, carrentals are a US$ 30 billion(Rs. 144,000 crore)

industr y. In India, it is stilllargely unorganised.Small-

time operators dominate about85% of the market. But growth

figures are impressive.The carrental industr y grew from Rs. 3000 crore

(US$ 625 million) in 2003 to Rs. 10,000 crore(US$ 2.10 billion) in 2007 notching up an annualaverage growth of 30%.The key driver, so far,has been the business process outsourcing(BPO) industry – much of which is currently

localised in the hubs of Gurgaon, Hyderabad,Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.Generating over

US$ 10 billion (Rs. 48,000 crore) in revenue theIndian BPO industry employs more than a halfmillion people and spends nearly 2.50% of itsincome on local transpor t.

However,with the road infrastructure set toimprove, the advent of the GPS system, agreater discipline on Indian roads and the simpleneed to upgrade from a public taxi to a private,chauffer- or self-driven car will propel thisindustry forward.

AchievementsAvis is one of theworld's iconic brands.

Its reputation hasbeen built on itsuntiring efforts tocombine newtechnologies,impeccably maintainedcars, outstandingservice,ease ofbooking and asuppor t system that isoperational around-the-clock. In India ithas set for itself thetask of continuing tobuild an infrastructurefor car rentaloperations whichwould be second to

none and would meetthe highestexpectations ofbusiness,corporateand leisure travellers.

The company has avaried fleet and offersa wide range ofmodels, with a choiceof sizes and stylesto suit renters'requirements.Avis has

a fleet of 1000 vehicles, all of which are,on anaverage, less than fourteen months old,undergoregular maintenance and are fully checked priorto every rental.This versatile fleet offers value-for-money and dynamic pricing to fit thecomfort and budgetary needs of every client.The fleet includes compacts, intermediates,sedans, premiums as well as luxury vehicles – allof which are delivered from a network of 48locations in eighteen cities across India.

Internationally, the Avis wor ldwide networ kboasts of a fleet of 450,000 cars in over 5100locations in 164 countries.

Year after year,Avis has been showered withlofty honours from satisfied customers,consumer organisations,as well as industr yassociations. It was honoured with the Best CarHire Company award by World Travel Awards,for the third year in a row.These awards are amatter of great pride and just the incentive forthe company to 'try harder'.

Its record in delivering value has beenunblemished.Perhaps,because of the effort it

makes and its impeccable lineage that it becamethe first international car rental company in India

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to be awarded the license to operate at theDelhi International Airport.

Interestingly,Avis wor ldwide commencedoperations as an airpor t-located business; todayit has a presence in over 1000 airports includingseven in India.

HistoryIn 1946 Warren Avis opened the world's firstairport car rental location at Willow Run

Airpor t, Detroit. On day one, the company hadon offer a grand total of three cars. Energy,enthusiasm, innovative industry leadership andan ethos of continuous improvement havecharacterised the company through the years.

In 1960 Avis crossed another landmark whenit established its corporate offices in the UK.Three years later, the company's advertisingagency Doyle Dane Bernbach had developedone of the world's truly great slogans:'We try harder'.

As the high-tech decade dawned in the West,the company was among the firstto take advantage ofinnovations byintroducing the'W izard', in the early1970s.This was the

first real-time,informationmanagement andreservation systemof makingworldwidebookings usingnetworkcommunications. Each'transaction' was typically completedin an average of two seconds.In 1973 Aviswas nominated as the market leader in Europe,Africa and the Middle East.

The dawn of the millennium was historicallysignificant in the company's continuousevolution as a world leader in the car rentalbusiness.Within the first year of the newdecade it was ranked highest for customerloyalty among 129 companies evaluated for theBrand Keys® Customer Loyalty Awards. In2003,the company introduced Avis Assist, thefirst hand-held GPS system. In the next twosuccessive years the brand launched Avis Access – the first car rental offering for travellers withdisabilities; it was ranked the number one carrental company in customer loyalty and rankednumber two in overall customer loyalty, justbehind Google.

Avis' history in India commenced withits launch in 1999. Initially, the companywas designed to provide car rental servicesto the guests of the Oberoi and Tridentchain of hotels. However,awakening to the

potential of taking theircar rental business outof a niche segment intoa growing generalmarket, the promotersdecided to form a jointventure with Avis inorder to build a

company withworld-classstandards incar rentals.

ProductAvis India provides the complete range ofground transportation services required byhotels,corporates and retail users. Chauffeuredcars driven by well-t rained,disciplined and

reliable drivers take clients around town, ferrythem for airpor t t ransfers and facilitateoutstation trips. Dynamic prices offer choicesbetween fares such as hourly rates and half- andfull-day packaged rates.

Well-maintained, self-driven cars are availablefrom Avis on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.The company has on offer four-wheel drives,SUV's and automatic transmission cars inselected cities.The company also managesground transportation for events andconferences, including pre- and post-tour

functions.Long-term rentals and minileases are custom-designed for

corporate and individualclients needing specific

cars for long durations.

The options comewith severalpackages whichinclude the servicesof a chauffeur,vehicle- and fuel-maintenance,insurance evenresale.The

company also undertakes leasingand fleet management for corporateorganisations that prefer to outsource theirfleet requirement.

In an effort to develop worldwiderelationships Avis in India now also offers itsclients the benefit of the company's worldwidenetwork.Customers travelling to any one of164 countries and 5100 rental locations Avisoperates out of can rent a car-of-choice andexpect the same friendly, service-with-a-smilewelcome.

Recent DevelopmentsAs markets have grown and new oppor tunitieshave manifestedthemselves Avis hasgrown with them.The company hasexpanded its Indiaoperations byopening two newAvis locations in

Goa and Amritsar.These are in addition to theseven airpor t operations it has in Mumbai,Delhi, Hyderabad,Kolkata,Pune,Udaipur andBhubaneshwar.

PromotionAvis has cultivated several partnerships andstrategic alliances to provide value addition to

customers.With joint programmesand promotions asthe basis,thecompany workswith manypartners toprovide a totallyintegrated travelexperience.Aviscurrently has tieups with airlinessuch as JetAirways andKingfisher, with

hotels such as Radisson and Ista,travel serviceproviders such as American Express and withselected tour operators, hotel groups,carmanufacturers and the railways.

Promotions are a regular feature on thecompany's worldwide as well as India websites.

The messaging is clear and unequivocal:Avis iscommitted to making travel faster,easier andmore enjoyable. In order to make these goalsa reality the organisation has developedmembership programmes and personal servicesthat are designed to meet a wide variety ofneeds, tastes and customer preferences.Thesevalue additions are available free of charge.

Brand Values'We try harder' is one of the ten mostinfluential advertising campaigns of all t ime.Launched in 1963 to make a vir tue of Avis's #2position, the slogan helped in achievingworldwide expansion. Later it became a rallyingpoint for all Avis employees. Itestablished Avis's commitmenttowards customer service and

the need for continuousimprovement.With thispromise,every employeerecognised that Avis willnot ever take thecustomer for grantedand that its goal is tobuild unimpeachableloyalty.

'We try harder' hasactually transcended into aculture Avis lives by.

www.avis.co.in

25SUPERBRANDS

With the acquisition of Budget, three years ago,the group is by far the number one car rentalorganisation in the world

Avis became the first international car rentalcompany in India to be awarded the license tooperate at various airports

Avis and British Airways have entered into afive-year global partnership deal in which allBritish Airways customers worldwide can availof the Avis car rental service

The loyalty programme run by Avis is calledAvis First. It offers rewards such as weekendrentals,a members-only website and adedicated, toll-free reservation number

India's largest fleet of premium cars is offered

by Avis

Things you didn’t know about

Avis