Car Insurance

Enterprise ranks highest in satisfying rental car customers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Rental Car Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

The study, now in its ninth year, measures customer satisfaction among business and leisure customers who rented a car at or near an airport. Overall satisfaction is based on performance in six areas. In order of importance, they are: pick-up process, rates/value, return process, rental car, reservation and shuttle bus/van.

Enterprise receives high ratings from customers in all factors and leads the industry in the areas of pick-up process and shuttle bus/van. Hertz follows Enterprise in the rankings, receiving the highest ratings in reservations, rental car and return process.

“While Enterprise was not originally known for its airport presence, recently the company has been aggressively adding rental car facilities at airports,” said Linda Hirneise, partner and executive director of travel industry research at J.D. Power and Associates. “Enterprise has been particularly successful in expediting the pick-up process at its airport locations, which can have a dramatic impact on overall customer satisfaction.”

Wait times to pick up rental cars have increased significantly over 2003. The study finds that 43 percent of all rental car customers had to wait an average of 19 minutes for a shuttle bus to pick up their rental car — up from 11 minutes in 2003.

“Overall customer satisfaction falls significantly the longer a customer has to wait to pick up the car,” said Hirneise. “Speed and efficiency are critical after a long day of travel. The importance of valuing a customer’s time cannot be overstated enough in this industry.”

The Internet continues to have a growing impact on the way customers make reservations for their car rental. Customers book their reservations on rental car company Web sites twice as often as on independent Web sites (35% vs. 17%, respectively). Satisfaction is higher for customers who book their reservation directly with the rental car company, whether through the company’s toll-free number or via the brand’s Web site.

The number of customers who report experiencing a significant problem with their rental car experience is the lowest it has been in five years, which is similar to findings across other travel-related industries in 2004. On average, just 6 percent of customers experience a significant problem. Problems during the pick-up process are the most frequently reported.

The study also finds that fewer than one in five customers purchase any form of optional coverage when renting a car. Among the optional coverage offered, 19 percent purchase personal accident insurance, while 17 percent purchase a loss damage waiver.

The 2004 Rental Car Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 4,696 customers who rented a car at an airport location within a six-month period.

WOBURN, Mass. & TULSA, Okla. — Thrifty’s Successful Deployment of Rhythmyx as the Content Management Foundation To Drive Its Brand Across 250-plus Web Sites Honored at Content Week 2005

Percussion Software, a leading developer of practical software solutions enabling customers to maximize the value and quality of enterprise content, and Thrifty Car Rental, a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: DTG), today announced that THRIFTY.com has won a first place IBIC (Internet/Intranet Best in Class) Award for its use of Percussion’s Rhythmyx Enterprise Content Management system. The IBIC awards are presented by the International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC). IBIC winners were announced February 2 at IQPC’s Content Week 2005 Conference and Exhibition in Miami.

“IQPC’s IBIC Awards honor and promote the best Internet and Intranet over the past year,” said Amy Thistle, Show Director of IQPC. “These awards showcase the best Internet and Intranet applications and designs for the many industries that currently use Internets and Intranets. Companies like Thrifty are setting the standards of excellence for other Intranet and Internet professionals, and we are pleased to recognize their contributions as part of Content Week 2005.”

Thrifty is a value-oriented car rental company with a significant presence both in the airport and local car rental markets. It operates in 64 countries and territories with more than 1,100 locations worldwide. Rhythmyx was chosen in 2003 to replace a proprietary system that Thrifty had developed internally. Thrifty’s deployment of Rhythmyx began with the company’s online Special Marketing Programs, which are used by the headquarters staff, as well as users at the store level, to drive sales and build brand loyalty. Thrifty’s Web presence now includes www.THRIFTY.com and some 250 city-specific store sites, its extranet hub and its corporate Intranet - all powered by the Rhythmyx content management system. More than 100 Thrifty authors and producers across the U.S. and Canada rely on Rhythmyx.

“We are honored to receive the IBIC Award - especially since more than 30 percent of our reservations come from the Internet,” said Thrifty’s Director of Internet Strategy Brad N. Rosenthal. “This makes the Web one of the most important tools driving our business,” he added. “Once we deployed Rhythmyx, technology was no longer a barrier to delivering messages to our customers. One recent study of car rental Web sites showed that Thrifty.com is among the easiest to access and use for average consumers, and we will continue to improve the quality that will bring them back for repeat business. The Rhythmyx content management system has become the cornerstone of our e-commerce efforts.”

“We congratulate Thrifty for being a very consumer-oriented company that has leveraged its Web site to provide customers with faster and better service and easier access to timely information,” said Barry Reynolds, CEO of Percussion Software. “Thrifty realized early on that Rhythmyx was a perfect fit to meet its content management needs, so it comes as no surprise to us that the company has built an award-winning Internet presence that strengthens its brand and enhances its appeal to consumers.”

About Thrifty Car Rental

Thrifty Car Rental is a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: DTG), a Fortune 1000 Company with headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Together with its corporately-owned locations and those of its franchise owners, the Thrifty Car Rental brand serves value-conscious travelers from more than 1,100 locations in 64 countries. To make a reservation with Thrifty, visit www.THRIFTY.com, call 1-800-THRIFTY or consult your travel agent.

About IQPC

The International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC) provides millions of business executives with tailored practical conferences, keeping them up-to-date with industry trends, technological developments and the regulatory landscape. Last year alone, IQPC produced more than 1,200 events. Founded in 1973, IQPC now has offices in 11 countries across five continents around the world. To best address the changing needs of its diverse audience, each office is divided into core industry practices. These divisions leverage a global research base of best practices to produce an unrivalled series of conferences, with special emphasis on: Oil & Gas, Defense, Transport, Marketing & Sales, Finance & Capital Markets, Healthcare, HR & Training, Six Sigma & Quality, Pharmaceuticals, I.T. & Technology, Government & Public Sector, Call Centers and Strategic Management.

About Percussion Software

Percussion Software’s family of practical software solutions enables customers to maximize both the value and quality of their enterprise content through cost-effective content management, ease of content reuse, optimized delivery to multiple channels and increased efficiency. The company’s flagship product, Rhythmyx 5.5, based on open standards, is the first Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution to provide cost-effective, multi-channel delivery of easily reusable content. Percussion’s Lyrix 2 product, the first comprehensive Lotus Domino Content Integration solution, unlocks proprietary Domino content for reuse in other enterprise applications. Lyrix 2 builds on Percussion’s Domino expertise, gained over the past 10 years from the company’s line of award-winning and innovative Power Tools for Lotus Domino: Notrix, PowerFlow, and ServerAdmin Plus.

Percussion’s portfolio of over 2,500 customers includes Fortune 1000 companies as well as other global, industry and public sector leaders, including Armstrong World Industries, Bank One, Bayer, Colgate, the FAA, Hitachi, HUD, IBM, ICI Paints, Intel, Jefferson Health System, MasterCard International, McKesson, Merck, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, Prudential Insurance, Shell Chemical, the Dept. of State, 3M, Thrifty Car Rental, Toshiba and Verizon. Founded in 1994, Percussion Software is self-funded and profitable.

Ostensibly, this is a column about cars (or trucks, or SUVs, or whatever; vehicles, as it were). So, to that end I’m writing about this vehicle named “Ironman” (my apologies to both Stan and Ozzy) that was shown by a company called “Model E” (hailing from Fremont, CA; more on it later) at this past October’s SEMA show in Las Vegas. Ironman is essentially a welded stainless steel spaceframe, its only body panel being the hood. It will be powered by some sort of a V8 in a mid-engine configura tion with full-time 4WD. It has a wheel-base of 103 in. with a 63.8 in.-track. Ground clearance ranges from 8-13.5 in. Approach and departure angles are 45[degrees] and 42[degrees], respectively. Oh, and acceleration 0-60 mph is “less than 6.0 seconds.” (Must have been a steep hill.) The Ironman concept was built by Rod Millen Special Vehicles (Huntington Beach, CA), and although the many Model E people at its unveiling seemed very proud of this fact, Millen himself was not in attendance. Instead, he of Toyota Tacoma Pike ’s Peak Hillclimbing fame was on the other side of Vegas hobnobbing with his corporate sponsor. Model E seems to think that it’s going to start building these things in 2002 and that you (or more likely someone not quite as smart as you) will be willing to shell out $82,500 for one (the minimum security deposit being a mere $10,000). Presumably, doors, roof, and other body panels are optional.

So by now you’re probably asking yourself why I am even writing about this overwhelmingly irrelevant concept vehicle (other than to make fun of it)? Because, unfortunately, the people at Model E seem to know very well how to say all the right things that I want to hear about the automotive future. They throw around phrases

like “Internet built-to-order vehicle” and “Subscribe S Drive.” They talk about zero asset production, modular assembly, direct-to-consumer sales, pull systems, mass customization, transforming the supply chain, and micro-factories. They drop Jim Womack’s name and impress Business 2.0 writers who pen great feature stories (but apparently know little to anything of the realities of the auto industry). Of course, none of this has anything to do with the ludicrous Ironman, at least nothing that the people at Model E can explain.

Otensibly, Model E is a car company. Ostensibly, it is a car company that I would like, as its ostensible mission is to use the Internet to overthrow the current automotive power structure. How? Ostensibly, it would: (i) Directly communicate with consumers in the design process to produce vehicles that are desirable and, more importantly, pre-sold. (2) Use a networked supply chain to produce these largely modular vehicles, such that Model E itself has little-to-no capital investment. (3) Deliver the product directly to consumers using a subscription-based service model that takes care of everything including insurance. What’s particularly annoying about this business plan is that it’s: (i) Possible. (2) Probable. (3) Unlikely to be accomplished by Model E.

There are others out there that are trying to do many of the same things, including even some of the big car companies. No doubt in my mind, these ideas are indeed the future of transportation, the future of mobility. But most of the people that I see who are trying to make these ideas happen spend their time talking about how they’re changing processes, developing new manufacturing technologies, creating new materials, programming new software, and managing new organizational schemes-all the stuff you read about in this magazine every month

A bill passed by the House of Representatives just a few days ago could be beneficial to the U.S. consumer vehicle leasing and daily rental car sectors if it becomes law, according to Fitch Ratings. The bill is Bill 6862, which may repeal existing vicarious tort liability laws where the owner (lessor) of a vehicle may be held liable for damages or injury cause by the vehicle operator (lessee).

This could help lessors and rental car companies by reducing or eliminating vicarious tort insurance and settlement costs, as well as spur activity as savings are passed on to consumers,” said Chris Mrazek, Managing Director, Fitch Ratings. “Existing auto lease securitizations would also benefit from tort relief — though no direct rating implications are anticipated — as structures are now exposed to a limited degree of claims paying uncertainty and timing risk.” While most rental car ABS ratings are tied to surety bond enhancement, the bill could reduce the cost of doing business in certain states.

Current vicarious tort liability laws have led major consumer vehicle lessors such as General Motors Acceptance Corp., Ford and American Honda Finance to either curtail their activity, or suspend it altogether, in states that have no ceilings on tort liability. In New York, for example, it is estimated over $6 billion in claims were paid out from 2000-2003. Other large states such as California, Michigan and Florida, cap potential claims though the amounts may vary. Mostly, lessors and rental agencies have mitigated the risk through the purchase of various layers of insurance. In the case of the daily rental business, the cost is passed through to consumers in the form of higher rates in applicable states.

In ABS lease structures, to avoid the process of re-registering and re-titling leased vehicles, the lease contracts and underlying vehicles are originated and titled in the name of a special purpose entity, the titling trust. Under vicarious liability laws, although the lessee is the operator of the vehicle, anyone suffering injury as a result of the operation of the leased vehicle could, if applicable state laws permit, file a liability suit against the owner, in this case the titling trust. To overcome the risk, the titling trust is the named beneficiary of all insurance payments, including claims on physical damage, credit/life disability, and vicarious tort liability claims.

With interest rates on the rise, contract rate incentives are becoming more expensive and with some stability in the wholesale vehicle market, lenders and consumers may look a little closer at leasing. “Passage of Bill 6862 through the Senate could alleviate the need for expensive vicarious liability insurance for issuers and securitizations, bringing down overall lease costs and potentially leading to higher volume,” said Mrazek. “For the rental car companies, the repeal could result in an expansion of service in those jurisdictions which previously had substantive vicarious liability laws,” said Philip S. Walker, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings.