ST. LOUIS - Enterprise Holdings – which owns and operates the Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental brands – today provided highlights of its 2011 fiscal year, including its first-ever Corporate Sustainability Report.

Enterprise Holdings is the world’s largest and most comprehensive service provider, and the only investment-grade company in the U.S. car rental industry. For its fiscal year ended July 31, 2011, Enterprise Holdings posted a record $14.1 billion in worldwide revenues, up more than 12 percent from $12.6 billion in 2010, which likewise represented a 4 percent increase over fiscal 2009. 

“Our strong balance sheet is a testament to our continued focus on customer service and costs, especially during tough economic times like these,” stated Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew C. Taylor, whose family owns and operates Enterprise Holdings.

“Conservative and disciplined financial management is the key to our company’s approach to corporate sustainability, which fully integrates our efforts to be responsible stewards from an economic, social and environmental perspective,” Taylor explained. “Our team works hard every day to manage our company for the long term, and we are very proud of our continued growth across all lines of business. And our customer service scores have never been higher.”

Financial and Operational Strengths

For more than 50 years, the Taylor family has put a significant portion of the company's cumulative earnings back into its privately held business – into building operations, serving customers and expanding the fleet. As a result of this ongoing reinvestment, the company by far has the lowest debt-to-equity ratio in the car rental industry. Such financial strength not only fosters new opportunities, but also offers Enterprise Holdings’ three-brand portfolio a distinct, competitive advantage in the car rental and travel industries. For example, the company operates, through its regional subsidiaries, an extensive and one-of-a-kind network of more than 6,000 neighborhood and airport branch offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population.

“Because we operate more than twice as many locations as our nearest competitor in the United States, we are ideally positioned to efficiently move vehicles from city to city, as well as back and forth between airports and nearby local offices,” Taylor noted. “As a result, our ability to quickly respond to demand fluctuations is unique and directly mitigates the historical volatility of airport car rental.”

Enterprise Holdings owns and operates more than 1.2 million cars and trucks, the largest fleet of rental and leased passenger vehicles in the world. “For the first time, our rental vehicles alone exceeded the one-million mark,” stated Taylor. “That kind of economy of scale – combined with our unparalleled network of branch offices – enables us to offer a ‘total transportation solution’ in thousands of communities from coast to coast.”

Alamo Rent A Car Brand Serves More International Leisure Travelers Visiting North America

St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings – through its regional subsidiaries – owns and operates the Alamo brand in North America as well as a licensee network that manages the National and Alamo brands throughout the Americas. Founded in 1974, Alamo Rent A Car is a value-oriented brand serving the rental needs of airport leisure travelers and offering low rental rates and a hassle-free customer experience. 

Alamo serves more international travelers visiting North America than any other car rental brand. In addition to transparent, all-inclusive rates, Alamo offers SaveTime – a pre-rental registration service that enables customers to input reservation, name and license information in advance while booking a vehicle. Further, Alamo provides products like Alamo Gold, which includes an additional driver and a tank of gas for customers visiting the United States and Canada. Alamo customers in the United States also are able to conveniently choose their own vehicles, based upon their advance reservation and requested car class, and then simply drive away from the airport.

Alamo is a recognized technology innovator, with more than 171 self-service kiosks at 63 U.S. locations, which earned it the “Extra Mile Award” from Budget Travel magazine in 2007.  Alamo, which serves as the official rental car of Walt Disney World® Resort and Disneyland® Resort, operates in the most popular travel destinations throughout the world. Alamo also is part of a global strategic alliance with Europcar, creating the world’s largest car rental network.  

“The Business of Sustainability”

Enterprise Holdings’ public commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability – already outlined on its www.DrivingFutures.com website – likewise has been documented in the company’s inaugural Corporate Sustainability Report covering fiscal 2011. Highlights include:

• 20/20 Vision Program: Hit the 4-percent target for energy usage reduction as part of the company’s five-year program, designed to reduce overall energy consumption by 20 percent in its network of branches.
• Enterprise Sustainable Construction Protocol (ESCP): Launched a new industry-leading effort to make all newly constructed and retrofitted rental locations sustainable during the next five years. Enterprise began investing more than $150 million in sustainable construction through the use of these new guidelines.
• Electric Vehicles: Took delivery of more than 150 full EVs, including more Nissan Leafs than any other rental operator. In addition, Enterprise was the first company to rent the plug-in hybrid electric Chevy Volt.
• 50 Million Tree Pledge: Funded the addition of one million trees to national forests in countries where Enterprise operates as part of its private/public/nonprofit partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service.
• Electrification Coalition: Joined this nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders representing the entire value chain of the growing electric-vehicle industry.
• National Clean Fleets Partnership: Became a corporate member of this public-private partnership, which was established to help large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations.

“We joined the Electrification Coalition and the National Clean Fleets Partnership because we offer affordable, accessible and flexible local car rental service in more towns and cities than anyone else,” Taylor stated. “That means we play an integral role in facilitating sustainable local transportation options, regardless of whether customers are looking to rent for an hour, a day, a week or longer. We also represent a hugely significant part of the value chain for bringing alternative-fueled vehicles to the mass market.”

Taylor noted the growing importance of these and other sustainability-related initiatives. “Many of our employees are interested in how our business touches the world,” he concluded.  “And more and more of our customers, especially some of our biggest corporate clients, expect us to document and articulate our leadership role and commitment to delivering ‘shared value.’ So this is a responsibility we take seriously in every community and company we serve.”