Founded in 1946 by Warren Avis, Avis was the first company to rent cars from airport locations. The company grew rapidly during the 1950’s through franchised and corporate-owned expansion. In 1963, Avis introduced the award winning “We try harder” campaign and the tagline remains the company’s rallying cry even today. Ten years later, Avis launched its innovative Wizard reservation system, the company’s cornerstone technology.

Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate the world’s second largest general-use car rental business, providing business and leisure customers with a wide range of services at more than 1,700 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Latin American/Caribbean region. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation and has marketing agreements with Avis Europe Plc, a separately owned UK-based company owning or franchising an additional 3,050 Avis locations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Avis Europe is the leading car rental company in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, operating under an exclusive licence until 2036. The company serves more than seven million customers a year through a network of over 3,000 locations in 105 countries.

The total network of Avis Europe generates revenue of over euro 1.6bn per annum through wholly owned subsidiaries and an extensive network of licensee partners.

Avis Europe enjoys close commercial ties with Avis Inc in the US, including sharing technology and marketing initiatives. The companies actively cooperate to provide a worldwide seamless service and form one of the largest vehicle rental networks in the world. They are independently owned.