RSS RSS Twitter Twitter
Leftlane - news, reviews, and info for the auto-industry
 
 

Dollar Thrifty significantly reduces Chrysler orders

10/13/2009, 8:49 AM

By Andrew Ganz

Rental car giant Dollar Thrifty says that it will cut the proportion of Chrysler products in its fleet from 76 percent to just 30 percent in an effort to cut costs and to diversify its fleet as a way of protect itself from any future challenges in the auto industry.

Dollar Thrifty was long known as the primary rental client for Chrysler in North America, but the new fleet will rely slightly more on Ford products. About 34 percent of the company’s 2010 fleet will be made up of Ford products and General Motors products will account for an additional 20 percent. The remaining 16 percent of non-domestic brands will be dominated by Nissan, Hyundai, Kia and a handful of undisclosed automakers, according to Reuters.

Previously, Dollar Thrifty had an agreement with Chrysler that, in exchange for cut-rate pricing on the automaker’s products, the agency would supply at least 75 percent of its fleet with Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The agency’s new agreement is for a fixed number of Chrysler vehicles – about 30,000 annually.

The agency says that during Chrysler’s brief bankruptcy earlier this year, it was owed about $11 million in incentives and repurchase programs from Chrysler. The automaker has since paid up all of its dues, but Dollar Thrifty says it is concerned about a similar affecting its cash flow in the future, regardless of automaker.

    Print This Post

New car price quote

Zero obligation price quote from a trusted local dealer.
 
 

10/13, 8:58 AM

posted by:

A4

I like how Ford and GM “make up” 54%, but Nissan, Kia, Hyundai “DOMINATE” with 18%. You journalists are the reason people get hard for piece of crap imports.

10/13, 8:59 AM

posted by:

A4

(16%)

10/13, 9:23 AM

posted by:

04focus

What they probably meant is that the import selection would be predominantly Nissan and Hyundai-Kia, rather then sampling from the sales leaders. So rather than imports “dominating” Dollar Thrifty fleets, it’s Nissan and Hyundai-Kia “dominating” the import selection at Dollar Thrifty.

10/13, 9:28 AM

posted by:

teahead

This is a good thing for Chrysler.

Keeps resale value from dropping like a rock due to rental returns flooding the used car market.

10/13, 10:08 AM

posted by:

TomF

I thought Chrysler had a stake in Thrifty, at least for awhile, that helped prop up this sales pipeline for them. Teahead, Chrysler has always been preoccupied with cramming the pipeline from quarter to quarter, and has never paid any attention to nameplate resale value. With sales down so dramatically, I don’t think they’ll start now.

10/13, 10:14 AM

posted by:

spg900

A4- You need to reread the article in the proper context. Besides, do you REALLY think people are so influenced by journalists. I guess we’re all a bunch of sheep then.

10/13, 10:26 AM

posted by:

DenverGuy217

Baa-aaaaa

Anyway, this is great news for the consumer (me). Always avoid Dollar/.Trhifty specifically because they have mostly Chrysler products even though they often have the best deals. Will check them out after they flesh out their inventory

10/13, 10:26 AM

posted by:

A4

Well, Fox News is the highest rated news network, so what does that tell you, spg900?

10/13, 10:27 AM

posted by:

MercMark

spg900 look at the last three presidents- BAAAAA the sheep do what the magic box tells them

10/13, 11:01 AM

posted by:

Borat

Oh irony of ironies: when folks with foreign car models as their blog names COMPLAIN about public not buying domestic brands

10/13, 11:06 AM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

DenverGuy, I just wonder how many of you there are out there? And by that I mean people who avoid specific rental chains because of what marque they predominantly rent. I would imagine most people probably don’t give a sh*t as renting a car is an infrequent occurrence at best, but if you’re someone who does rent on a regular basis you’re bound to have preferences.

I’m sure there’s a survey out there somewhere. What aspect of the auto biz hasn’t been dissected over the years?

10/13, 11:23 AM

posted by:

RaineMan

spg900… Americans are (for the most part) sheeple. Where have you been for the past 10 years? We can’t think for ourselves anymore, we merely do what popular culture dictates. Look at entertainment, clothing, housing, and automobile trends.

10/13, 11:26 AM

posted by:

leftwingagenda

i don’t choose rental car companies based on what their majority supplier is…

and i’d agree A4 totally misread that article…they clearly stated that those brands are dominating the remaining 16%…nothing personal, but you completely missed it…

10/13, 12:19 PM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

I probably shouldn’t even be commenting on this. The odd time I’ve had to rent a car I just looked for the sales rep with the biggest tits.

10/13, 12:35 PM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

Chryslers are maintainence and reliability nightmares. Even a Ford is a step up in those areas. Now that General Motors has denied rental companies the availability of their class leading products, they will be looking for the next best thing to fill the gap.

But Nissan Hyundai and Kia? Sheesh, you might as well keep renting Chryslers if you want a disposable POS that gets retired a year later due to massive reliability and quality concerns.

GM. AN American Revolution

10/13, 12:40 PM

posted by:

spg900

A4- if you combine the other 3 networks, they outnumber Fox. My faith is in those people.
Raineman- I’m not American but I cross the border several times a year. I agree that too many things have become trendy but I choose to focus on the other 50%.

10/13, 1:26 PM

posted by:

artmark

I do choose who to rent from mainly based on what they rent. My first choice is always Hertz – they rent good, clean, reliable, FORD cars. Then I look to who is the cheapest – but never Dollar Thrifty since I don’t want to get stuck in a neon, pt cruiser or any other Chrysler junk. Plus customer service at Hertz is great. The last car I rented was a Volvo. It got a flat tire, so instead of replacing the tire, they replaced the car with a Volvo convertible.

10/13, 3:23 PM

posted by:

ktulu

ecery1 has reduced Cryco orders.
Japanese imports mite B [ices o’rap bniut not herman im,ports

10/13, 5:43 PM

posted by:

JakeK66

I can tell you the rental division I work at has been buying up tons of Toyotas and even some Hondas now where they used to buy GM since we had the same deal with GM as they did Chrysler. We just are successful as a company where Dollar has been unsuccessful.

10/13, 6:09 PM

posted by:

aggie531

wtf are you trying to say ktulu? its not cool or funny. It makes you look like an 11-year old.

anyways-

I like diversity when i rent a car. I don’t want to get stuck with the same car every time.

10/13, 7:19 PM

posted by:

beatusmongous

Ktulu has a problem. His hands are too big for his keyboard, so he writes with the tentacles that dangle from his chin.

http://roberthood.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/cthulhu.jpg

10/13, 7:34 PM

posted by:

elantra_touring

A4
How reliable is your Audi?? I have some people who can help you pull an insurance scam, alot of A4s go missing in order to collect insurance money! I wonder why?

10/13, 8:00 PM

posted by:

aggie531

lol beatus. You are probably right. It makes sense

10/13, 8:25 PM

posted by:

elantra_touring

HAHAHAHAHA A4s are unreliable crap. Is you dash lite up for X-MAS yet? or are your dash warning light on year round?

10/13, 9:06 PM

posted by:

Need more oil for Volkswagen

Dear Chrysler,

I would hope you would not become depressed by this news. Your depreciation won’t be so high now
if you are crying in a corner than you do not have a very smart CEO and Sale Manager working behind the scenes. Your cars suck anyway….

NMOFVW

10/14, 7:36 AM

posted by:

A4

are you copying and pasting your same comments from article to article? thats sad you cant come up with fresh material.
IT AINT RELIABLE AT ALL YOU ELANTRA DRIVING RETARD
but if you arent a volkswagen person, you just wouldn’t get it.
And yes I misunderstood what they were getting at, but regardless my point stands, just cause I’m a douche.
And yes Osama, I buy Volkswagen products but I have yet to see a single automotive journalist that tells anyone to run out and buy them because they are more reliable than the domestics, which they are not and I could care less – which is why I buy them, and also it is what they do with the Import automakers – which is also NOT true, but I take issue with them boasting about it. I also own a Silverado SS and two Jeep’s, so don’t patronize me about what kind of car I drive, you terrorist.

10/14, 10:07 AM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

^And out of a whole fleet of vehicles, the only one worth owning is your SS. You should dump your Audi and pick up on of those hot Buick Lacrosses. The Jeeps are good for off roading but not much else. Still, GM doesn’t have anything to move up to for you.

GM. An American Revolution

10/14, 3:48 PM

posted by:

leftwingagenda

not trying to be a douche myself, but when you miss the point, no point can stand…

10/14, 11:54 PM

posted by:

krautninja

this will b good for the chryco resale value i suppose? and A4 i get you, not everyone can appreciate VW products. but contrare to popular belief not ALL of them are sh!t, Ive had my A4 and TT for both over 100k miles and the only prob with the TT i had thus far was the dash display fading, and the A4 had a problem with the windows gettin stuck, that aside, no major engine issues. which all BS aside, id rather deal with electric issues and nick nacks here and there than deal with a faulty engine anyday

 
 
You need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.

    

Forgot your Password?

Don't have a user name yet? Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the
confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.

  
 
 
 
 
  • Login
  • About
  • Contact
Please note that you need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.
  

login
cancel
Forgot your Password?
Don't have a user name yet? Click here to register now.

Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.

  
submit
cancel
Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day with the very latest auto news - as it happens.

Leftlane also provides consumers with accurate and media-rich information on every car currently on the market. In-market shoppers can review specs, read overviews, view high-resolution images, watch videos, and estimate pricing. No other automotive publication brings together the same degree of timeliness, thoroughness and accuracy as Leftlane.
 
submit
cancel