Conservative talk show host Bill “I swear the nuns didn’t beat me” O’Reilly likes to rail on (and on and on) about America’s cultural degradation. In fact, it’s one of our country’s greatest strengths. Rappers who started by singing (well, shouting) the praises of capping cops end-up in Bentley-and-bling filled videos that make unbridled consumerism seem like the ultimate revenge against The Man. Hell, there ain’t nothin‘ we can’t assimilate! For profit, obviously. And the people who profit most are always the distributors. I’m not sure what Karl Marx had to say on the subject– I’ve got “How To Make a Killing off of Karl Marx” on my night table– but he who controls the distribution owns the gold. So along comes Zipcar. Nice idea: rent a car by the hour. Here’s your card. Pick up a car, swipe ‘n go. After eight long years, they get a bit of traction: 5,500 cars in 13 cities. Rad dude! I guess we’re showing those big rental companies how it should be done! Problem: Hertz.
The New York Times reports that Hertz is starting a service called Connect by Hertz “that is strikingly similar to Zipcar’s. Available initially in New York and Hertz’s hometown of Park Ridge, N.J., as well as London and Paris, it will serve customers who pay an annual fee to rent cars by the hour — without some of the hidden and not-so-hidden fees lumped into typical rental contracts.
“Like Zipcar, Connect by Hertz members can make reservations online and use swipe cards to open their cars, which will be parked at 10 lots in Midtown Manhattan. In a nod to Zipcar’s success in signing up young drivers, the Toyota Prius and the Mini Cooper will be among the first 35 cars that Connect by Hertz will offer in New York.”
Let’s think about this. Zipcar: 5,500 cars spread across the country. (And that’s after merging with Flexcar in ’07.) Hertz: 40k cars in New York City alone. So, the question must be asked– and the Times asks it- what’s Zipcar got that Hertz ain’t got?
“We’re certainly sitting up and noticing what other competitors are doing,” said Zipcar’s chief executive, Scott Griffith. But “this is Hertz car sharing 1.0 and we’re at Zipcar 8.0.”
Ah. Seems to me the Great AmeriBorg is about to bite his butt.
Unbeknownst to the world, Enterprise has been in this business for years. The difference is that pick you up at your door and drop you off again. You do pay for a full day’s or week’s worth of rental – but there is no yearly fee. I find them convenient to use when the need arises.
Although Enterprise service is handy in burbs, the real value of Zipcar in Manhattan is parking: you don’t need to look for one near your appt. building. You can park zipcar in garage you picked it from, it run home and pick up whatever you forgot. Alternative is expensive as hell in the City.
Hertz will probably bungle it, and those 40,000 Hertz cars in the NYC area are certainly not in the loop for this experiment.
Blockbuster should have been able to kill off Netflix, but still lags.
Barnes & Noble should have been able to nip Amazon in the bud, but didn’t.
IBM should have ruled the PC universe, but doesn’t even play there anymore.
Sears should have kicked upstart Wal-Mart’s butt back to the small towns of Arkansas, and we know how that story ends.
GM’s Vega should have sent the Japanese cars swimming back across the Pacific. Instead we have Death Watch 999.
The funny thing about branding is that it can be a two edged sword. Yes, everyone knows Hertz … but Zipcar is fun, new and cool while Hertz is for traveling salesman. What young hipster is going to ditch their Zipcar membership for Hertz?
Please remember that Zipcars are Minis and such. Enterprise Car Rental consists mainly of Cobalts and Calibers.
This is same difference as getting laid compared to getting kicked in the balls.
Its a good idea for Urban Areas. Now from a branding perspective they should have something by Hertz with the Hertz in small writing.
Yes, they are both renting cars but its a different service targeted at a different audience.
Sort of the same way McDonalds purchased and built-out and spun off Chipotle.
I checked their website – in Manhattan/NYC, where I live, they have about two dozen cars available. You get your choice of a MINI, a Camry, a Mazda 3 sedan, an Escape, or a Prius. Prices are about on par with Zipcar, but Zipcar has a much broader car base, at least at the moment – 328i, Tacoma, xB, S40, etc.
I’m a happy Zipcar user in Vancouver, and I own a car (actually when I joined I owned two.) I use them mainly because I can borrow a pickup truck in my neighbourhood at relatively short notice.
10 lots in midtown doesn’t seem like great coverage for NYC. Here in Vancouver (and I imagine other Zipcar locales) the lots are distributed over a wider area, not just downtown. As others have mentioned, they have a wider selection of cars too.
Also, one Zipcar membership can be used worldwide. In contrast, the Hertz site says “Each country has its own membership plans and rate schemes.” Fail.
I use PhillyCarShare in Philadelphia. Lots of different cars,from Prius to Lexus, pick-ups, suv’s etc. Its nice u can get exactly what u want, i ocasionally take a miata ot a mini convertable just to play with. ALso, the pick up is nice to get things bought from craigslist and the like. I told people that I was not just getting rid of my car, I was was getting about 200 others. Imagine deciding when you wake up what kind of car u are in the mood for, just as you would decide what to have for breakfast.
I like this service, I heard that Hertz was getting into the business. My impression of Hertz is that they dont really like cars, they could have just as well be renting lamps, one is as good as another, they all produce light. I expect they will fail – but in case they dont, good. I beleive this kind of service will be the shape of the future. I applaud their greedy little hearts.
I use zipcar here in Portland, OR. It is great for someone like me- lives downtown, generally walks or bikes everywhere, not adverse to public transportation, but sometimes needs a car. Its great for something like say, a job interview, doctor’s appointment, or a rare trip to a mall/home depot to pick up something big. No need to pay for a big truck!
Those are probably the best and most common use cases though. The daily rates are really high, probably cheaper to rent something cheap from Hertz. You can’t do anything one-way, as each car has its own dedicated spot. So if you just want to get home, you’re calling a cab.
I got a pretty good deal, where they waived the first year’s fees and even gave me $50 in credit, which paid for my first two rentals. I like the service, I hope it doesn’t go away.
Also as nudave mentions, the cars are generally higher quality than most rentals. Mini’s, convertibles and coupes, although sadly not the S model. Miatas, lots of Hondas, and recently a BMW 328!
Here in Park Slope (Brooklyn) I have TWO Zipcar stables in TWO neighboring (parallel) streets: one on my corner, another on the next one – I highly doubt Hertz will be able to beat Zipcar anytime soon in my area… :D