National Car Rental is a private American rental car agency based in Clayton, Missouri, United States. National is owned by

Enterprise Holdings Enterprise Holdings, Inc. (doing business as Enterprise Mobility) is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nationa ...

, along with other agencies including

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National ...

, and Alamo Rent a Car. National typically caters to

business travel Business travel is travel undertaken for work or business purposes, as opposed to other types of travel such as leisure trips or daily commuting between one’s home and workplace. It typically involves travelling - often by air, rail, or roa ...

ers through its Emerald Club loyalty program that allows frequent customers to pick their own vehicles without stopping to fill out forms or deal with customer representatives.

Overview

National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947. It had grown from 60 locations in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1947 to over 2000 locations internationally . In 1987,

Paine Webber PaineWebber & Co. was an American investment bank and stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, by William A. Paine and Wallace G. Webber. Operating with two ...

, a historical American

brokerage firm A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a Purchasing, buyer and a sales, seller. This may be done for a commission (remuneration), commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer b ...

, gained majority ownership of National. In 1995, National was owned by an investment group containing William Lobeck of Tulsa, Alvin Swanner of New Orleans, and Archer McWhorter of Houston. Lobeck was a former president of Chrysler's car rental unit and a former owner of Thrifty Rent A Car, a competitor of National. It was later sold in 1995 at an estimated price of $1 billion. In 1996, National acquired the Canadian fleet and operations of Tilden Rent-a-Car. In 1996, National was acquired by Republic Industries (later renamed

AutoNation AutoNation, Inc. is an American automotive retailer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which provides new and pre-owned vehicles and associated services in the United States. The company was founded by Wayne Huizenga in 1996, starting with twelv ...

). AutoNation spun off its car rental properties as ANC Rental in 2000. ANC filed for bankruptcy a year later; its properties were sold to Vanguard Automotive Group (controlled by

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

) in 2003. On August 1, 2007

assumed control of Vanguard Automotive Group.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Retail companies established in 1947 Transport companies established in 1947 National Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 Private equity portfolio companies Enterprise Holdings Car rental companies of the United States