![]() ![]() In order to exploit this market, Alamo chose to remain at less expensive, off-airport locations and concentrate on serving vacationers, not business customers, at lower prices. Egan reasoned that deregulated air passenger service would increase opportunities for travel by budget-minded vacationers. ![]() After the suit was settled, the end to such price-fixing led to considerable expansion into airports by the smaller car rental companies, most notably Budget Rent A Car.Īlamo, however, did not immediately follow other rental companies to airport locations. The FTC discovered that airports had joined in pricing smaller companies out of space in some cases airports had even forbidden airport advertising by off-airport companies. Just prior to this time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the industry ’s big three -Hertz, Avis, and National Car Rental -accusing them of rigging bids for airport sales counters and fixing prices at 10 to 40 percent higher than those charged by smaller competitors such as Alamo. Sales in 1979 -the first full year under the Egan group ’s ownership -reached $30 million. Alamo courted travel agents and paid them commissions for referrals. In 1978, after MacArthur died, Egan and several others bought the firm and began turning attention to markets overlooked by the more established car rental companies, starting with the vacation traveler. Egan left Florida-based Olins Rent-a-Car to join Alamo as the Miami-area manager for its owner, insurance billionaire John MacArthur. From the beginning, the company pursued a discount strategy, charging up to 20 percent less than its much larger competitors, offering free mileage, and using cheaper, off-airport sales locations. Its name had been chosen for the position it would command in classified telephone directories, rather than for any historical reference. Alamo has established itself as an inexpensive, off-airport car rental agency that caters to leisure travelers, but it also has sought business travelers and has become a viable competitor of the larger industry leaders.Īlamo began operations in 1974 with 1,000 cars at four Florida locations. It has a fleet of more than 127,000 cars at 102 locations in 38 states, and at 17 locations in England and Scotland through its London-based affiliate, Alamo Rent A Car (U.K.) Limited. Private Company Incorporated: 1974 Employees: 6,000 Sales: $600 millionĪlamo Rent A Car, Inc., is the fifth-largest car rental company in the United States. ![]()
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