Contact Information: For more information, contact: Laura Bryant Enterprise Holdings 314-512-4178
Almost 8,000 Recalled Toyotas Already Repaired, Returned to Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental Locations
Enterprise Holdings Working Closely With Toyota to Fix Accelerators at Local Dealerships and Airport Car-Rental Service Centers
2010 Prius Vehicles Also Being Removed From Fleet in Response to Toyota Recall; Anti-Lock Brake Systems Expected to Be Repaired Quickly
| Source: Enterprise Holdings
ST. LOUIS, MO--(Marketwire - February 10, 2010) - Enterprise Holdings announced today that
almost 8,000 of its approximately 35,000 recalled Toyota and Pontiac Vibe
vehicles have had their accelerator pedals fixed and have been returned to
service at its Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car
Rental locations in North America.
The vehicles, identified for recall and suspension of sales due to
potential problems with sticking accelerator pedals, represent about 4
percent of the company's entire North American fleet. Enterprise Holdings
is working closely with Toyota to repair all affected vehicles and return
them to service as soon as possible.
Further, in response to Toyota's recall yesterday, Enterprise Holdings also
is taking model year 2010 Prius vehicles out of service temporarily so that
the anti-lock brake systems (ABS) can be repaired in accordance with
Toyota's instructions. "Because of the high level of customer concern and
media coverage of this ongoing story, we are removing these vehicles as
well," said Matt Darrah, executive vice president-North American Operations
for Enterprise Holdings, which owns and operates the Alamo, Enterprise and
National brands.
"Our top priority throughout this entire process has been safeguarding the
safety and trust of our customers, and that remains our focus going
forward," he said. "We are in constant communication with our dealer
partners across North America to ensure that all necessary repairs are made
promptly and efficiently."
The company is coordinating with Toyota to expedite the recall work in a
number of ways. In some cases, the repairs are being made at local
dealerships, while in other locations Toyota technicians are doing the work
on site at Alamo, Enterprise and National locations. In some airport
locations that have on-site service centers, Toyota technicians are
training company technicians to make the repairs.
In every case, the company is taking careful steps to ensure that no
vehicle is returned to the fleet until the problems have been corrected.
"We're working very hard to ensure that as we return these cars to our
fleet, customers can rent them with complete confidence, knowing that the
needed repairs have been made," Darrah stressed.
"Our team deserves a great deal of credit for pulling nearly all of these
vehicles from our fleet in just over a week, and for minimizing
inconvenience to our customers in the process," he said. Enterprise
Holdings, which will continue to remove the remaining cars affected by the
recalls until they can be repaired, is confident that it will be able to
meet customer demand despite such challenges.
Enterprise Holdings is North America's largest and most comprehensive car
rental company, with more than a third of all airport business in the U.S.
and Canada. In addition, the company operates more than 5,000 Enterprise
Rent-A-Car offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S.
population.
Darrah noted: "The flexibility provided by our unique coast-to-coast
network has minimized customer inconvenience and delays as we are able to
quickly move vehicles between cities and from airports to nearby
neighborhood branch offices
-- and vice versa. It also has worked in our favor that the affected
vehicles represent such a small percentage of our total fleet, and that we
have been able to add new cars while keeping some existing cars a bit
longer than planned."
None of the vehicles in the company's car sharing fleet, operated under the
WeCar brand, has been affected by either of these safety recalls. The WeCar
brand, a natural extension of Enterprise Rent-A-Car's local business rental
program, offers mostly hybrids and plug-in vehicles to business customers
looking to enhance their fleet management operations and sustainability
initiatives. Darrah noted that the brakes on all new Priuses will be
carefully inspected before they are programmed for the WeCar car-sharing
fleet.
Meanwhile, the company has suspended sales of the models affected by the
accelerator issue and will not sell or put any affected Toyota vehicles
into service under the Alamo, Enterprise or National car rental brands
until all necessary repairs have been made. Further, Enterprise Fleet
Management is working closely with Toyota and its leasing customers on
plans to make the needed repairs to any leased vehicles subject to the
recalls.
About Enterprise Holdings
Enterprise Holdings, through its regional subsidiaries, owns and operates
more than 1 million cars and trucks, the largest fleet of passenger
vehicles in the world today, under the Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise
Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental brands. As North America's largest and
most comprehensive car rental company, Enterprise Holdings also operates a
network of more than 7,600 car rental locations in neighborhoods and at
airports worldwide, and leads the industry with more than a third of all
airport business in the U.S. and Canada.
Enterprise Holdings is headquartered in St. Louis. Ranked No. 21 on the
Forbes Top 500 Private Companies in America list, Enterprise Holdings is
unparalleled in size, strength and stability
-- the only investment-grade company in the car rental industry. In
addition, Enterprise Holdings is part of a global strategic alliance with
Europcar, creating the world's largest car rental network. Other
Enterprise business lines include Enterprise Fleet Management, Enterprise
Commercial Trucks, Enterprise Car Sales and WeCar car sharing. For more
information about Enterprise Holdings, visit www.enterpriseholdings.com.
For more information about Enterprise Holdings' environmental stewardship
and the company's long-term commitment to ensure the sustainability of its
business, visit www.keystogreen.com.