> Car-rental firm, recently emerged from bankruptcy under new ownership, orders vehicles by the end of 2022
That does sound crazy that they re doing it while they ll be still in pandemic, which bankrupted them in the first place. I guess in the US people can always find a charger. I wonder how many people will rent those cars for the novelty factor, and novelty only works once. And it will be interesting to see what people think after they have rented one
Many people are wondering where Hertz found the money to make this purchase.
> it will be interesting to see what people think after they have rented one
They will absolutely love it, just like I did when I rented one on Turo and then bought a new one the very next day. Also, the Hertz crowd is exactly the right target customer for Tesla. All of which shows how brilliant this deal is for Tesla, and how incentivized they must have been to make it happen. Which likely answers the question above.
I wonder if the goal is to consume the market so it's more difficult for other rental car companies to get Teslas?
Personal anecdote but I already am generally willing to pay a slight premium for Hertz over other rental companies and would be willing to pay slightly more still if it meant renting a Tesla.
The beauty of being the first in the market. All the manufacturers with the shiny new EVs will have a higher marketing cost because Tesla is able to get the free PR and the best co-promotional deals like this one.
Car rental companies (including Hertz) sold a bunch of cars and that combined with increased cleaning and a return to volume means rental car inventory is very tight at some locations... it's no surprise that they're ordering more cars. These particular cars, maybe a little surprising, but they sold a lot during bankruptcy, so they've got to restock.
That does sound crazy that they re doing it while they ll be still in pandemic, which bankrupted them in the first place. I guess in the US people can always find a charger. I wonder how many people will rent those cars for the novelty factor, and novelty only works once. And it will be interesting to see what people think after they have rented one