Hertz really wants to turn the page on electric. The rental company is trying at all costs to get rid of its latest battery-powered models. The company is even going so far as to contact its customers, people who rent electric vehicles, to offer them to buy the car instead of returning it.
At Hertz, electrification has definitely not been a success. That's the least we can say. The significant depreciation of vehicles, particularly Teslas, has caused the company to lose a lot of money. After organizing a giant sale to try to sell nearly 30,000 electric cars, the rental company is going even further.
Electric cars at knockdown prices
According to the American media outlet The Verge, Hertz is trying to palm off its latest electric cars on its own customers. For example, one renter was offered a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt for $18,442. Another one is a 2023 Tesla Model 3 with 30,000 km for only $17,913. Or a Polestar 2 for $28,500.
To convince its customers to leave with the car they rent, the company even offers a 12-month, 20,000 km warranty on the powertrain and promises a recovery within 7 days. This behavior is not unusual for a rental company, but the offers concerning electric vehicles are particularly interesting.
Jamie Line, Hertz's communications director, specifies that "this campaign allows us to offer great opportunities to customers who want to buy a similar car." The firm recorded an overall depreciation of $937 million on all its vehicles during the third quarter of 2024.
That's about $537 per unit. This represents a significant increase compared to the previous year. The U.S. car rental company said it expected depreciation to fall below $300 per vehicle by the end of 2025.
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