Interview with Frank Camacho, Staff VP Marketing - U.S. Rent A Car, The Hertz Corporation

How do you assess the progress made by your company recently? - (9/28/2005)

We have made good progress in both the leisure and commercial markets. In addition we have expanded our premium product line, the Hertz Prestige Collection in response to continuing growth in demand.

What new trends have you witnessed in the US?

Travelers continue to move to the web to book and over half of all RAC reservations are now made that way. We are below that because of our commercial business, as they have been slower to adopt the web. In addition, luxury travel is expanding and customers are increasingly interested in add-ons like NeverLost GPS and Sirius Satellite radio.

What do you think is driving these changes?

With regard to the web, the growth of broadband, increasing comfort shopping on the web and general maturing of the market. With regard to luxury travel and assorted add-ons, just a general search for a better experience and the feeling that a vacation is important in today's world.

How do you think consumer preferences are changing towards car rental services?

Consumers are starting to see RAC (rent a car) as a part of the vacation experience. They see things that can enhance the total vacation like Prestige vehicles, GPS, and satellite radio and they want them.

How do you think your company differs in its offerings?

Hertz was the first to introduce GPS and still has the only proprietary in-car installed system. We are one of two that offer satellite radio. And Hertz is still the only company that lets its customers reserve a specific make and model of vehicle in a broad variety of categories.

How do you think you have made your operations user friendly?

We have long had #1 Club Gold service allowing customers to bypass lines and go directly to their cars. In the past few years we have enhanced the services available in the basic #1 Club program (not Gold) as well. These now include a separate expedited line for check-in, e-mailed special offers for customers who request them, and access to copies of bills on our website.

What new trends have you witnessed as far as usage of online medium is concerned for customer service in terms of saving his/her time and offering convenience?

Not much new this year, but in the past few years, an increasing desire to use the Web to shop and book travel 24 hours a day, at home or at work. We have two peaks on our Website: lunch time (from work) and in the late evening (from home.) So clearly these customers are comfortable shopping and booking on the web.

How do you think online as a distribution medium has evolved as far as car rental service in concerned?

In the beginning we had simple supplier sites that allowed a reservation to be made, some information to be obtained, and pictures of cars to be displayed. Over time that has expanded to allow complete account management, copies of bills, changes to personal profiles and preferences, maps and weather information for the destination, and statements of past rentals and points earned for renting.

The third party sites have also improved, from offering simple reservation capability to enhanced shopping and search capability, and even the ability to reserve more types of vehicles than before.

What do you think are the challenges going forward?

As the market continues to mature, they tend to demand more information, better response time and simpler interfaces. Some of these (simple and more for example) are counter to each other and require better technology. The growing use of PDA's and cell phones that are more like browsers means that the concept of design for a Website will have to be broadened also.