PARK RIDGE, N.J. -
On Tuesday, Hertz Corp. announced the launch of an online remarketing program that allows dealers to directly acquire high-quality rental units from the company.
Hertz Dealer Direct is designed to offer these late-model units to dealers at “competitive prices” and doesn’t require a transaction fee.
Here is how the process works. Dealers and wholesale buyers can sort through the vehicles Dealer Direct has in its inventory, whether the models are currently on-rent units that are ready for sale or grounded units that can be purchased and picked up immediately.
Dealers can elect to be kept up-to-date on the status of all the units Hertz has available. The system will let a dealer know once their ride of choice is ready for sale. 
Buyers can submit an offer to purchase via Dealer Direct, give their payment information and print a gate release. They also can tailor their purchases to their schedules and fleet requirements.
“Hertz Dealer Direct is an integral part of our car sales strategy,” explained Mark Frissora, Hertz chairman and chief executive officer. “Dealer Direct provides car dealers with a real-time, e-commerce platform for buying cars directly from our company, providing financial benefits to dealers and Hertz.”
Hertz highlighted these benefits of its program:
—No transaction or success fees.
—Attractive wholesale pricing.
—Real-time online access to Hertz wholesale inventory.
—Well-conditioned vehicles.
—Purchase, utilizing expedited, electronic processing.
Advent Resources, which offers sales systems to the auto vertical, worked with Hertz to build Dealer Direct.
The architecture, workflow and automation in the program were all crafted by Advent. These were designed to help Hertz to manage wholesale transactions in a more effective fashion and make its remarketing processes more efficient.
Basically, the program employs a customer technology platform devised by Advent.
“It is exciting for us to have the opportunity to develop the platform supporting the Hertz Dealer Direct program, and to play a significant role in such an innovative remarketing solution,” said Advent president Tim Gill.
Hertz Updates Guidance
In other news from the company, it appears that some areas of Hertz’s 2010 financial performance will likely turn out better than the company expected.
The rental-car giant — which fiercely battled Avis Budget Group to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group last year, and ultimately saw its plans to buy the Dollar Thrifty fall through — recently revised its full-year 2010 guidance.
In the update, released Tuesday, Hertz said that its adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and corporate EBITDA are likely to exceed the high-end guidance for these respective metrics.
In fact, Hertz projects that its adjusted pre-tax income and adjusted diluted earnings per share will “significantly” eclipse high-end guidance.
Meanwhile, full-year revenues are predicted to be on par with what was given in the guidance range.
“For the full-year 2010, including the fourth quarter, we achieved strong financial and operational performance from our car and equipment rental businesses,” stated Frissora.
“As a result, we expect full-year 2010 consolidated adjusted pre-tax income and adjusted diluted earnings per share to significantly beat the high end of our earnings guidance,” he continued. “We expect corporate EBITDA to beat high end guidance, with full-year revenues forecasted to be in line with guidance.”
Hertz reaffirmed back on Oct. 20 that its full-year 2010 revenue would finish between $7.5 billion and $7.7 billion, while its corporate EBITDA would hit somewhere between $1.08 billion and $1.095 billion.
At that time, Hertz had also boosted its projection for pre-tax income, saying it would finish the year between $315 million and $325 million. Meanwhile, it lifted its adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to range between $0.47 and $0.48.