Newsmaker: Car Vets Take The Wheels

<B> Newsmaker: Car Vets Take The Wheels</B>

By Lynn Woods

As the new year kicks in, there will be a number of familiar faces in top management positions at several major car rental companies.

National Car Rental has appointed a new president, Robert Briggs, who joined the firm in 1980 and most recently served as corporate vice president of sales. In a press statement, Briggs noted, "Our dedicated employees have created a tremendous momentum at National. The launch of Global Odyssey [National's new IT system] will create even more positive changes and is the linchpin of our continued growth and success."

Former National president Jeffrey Parell has been promoted to president of North American operations of the Automotive Rental Group at Republic Industries. The group, headed by William Lobeck, oversees National and Alamo Rent-A-Car, Republic's two car-rental firm holdings (see story, see page 1). Meanwhile, Alamo also has a new president, Karen Beard, an 18-year Alamo veteran, most recently senior vice president of sales and marketing. Beard is the first woman to head a major car rental company.

Beard replaces George Gremse, who will work with Parell at Republic. "George was brought in to fix Alamo," Lobeck stated. "Those processes and procedures have been put in place, and as a result of his actions, we saw a better way to run the entire North American operation."

Shifts also are taking place in the international divisions of Hertz and Avis. Toby Joseph, the London-based vice president of sales for northern Europe at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, is leaving that position to take up new responsibilities as division vice president of sales for Hertz Europe, effective in January. Thomas Kennedy has been appointed director of international sales at Avis Rent a Car, overseeing the outbound business to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Kennedy, previously Avis's European sales manager, also is responsible for outbound sales and training efforts of 10 regional U.S. and Canadian travel managers.

Kennedy said one goal in the coming year is to differentiate Avis from its competitors overseas. "There's been so much talk about price," he said. "Price is important, but we need to focus on what's unique." Two examples are Avis's Personally Yours product, which supplies customers with a complete itinerary, including maps and advice on the best routes, in advance of the rental, and Message Center, a service enabling Avis renters in 16 European countries to leave and retrieve messages using two toll-free telephone numbers.

Kennedy noted an increase in the number of U.S. business travelers renting cars in Europe, which he attributed both to an increase in deplaning passengers--expected to grow from 6 to 8 percent next year--and more general acceptance of rental cars in Europe. In response to demand, Avis will add more large cars with automatic transmission to its European fleet, particularly in the United Kingdom, and equip more vehicles with air conditioning, Kennedy said.

Budget Rent a Car appointed 27-year Hertz executive Jean-Claude Ghiotti as president and chief operating officer of Budget Rent a Car International, overseeing Budget's corporate-owned and franchised operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Budget also appointed Heidi Blakeway-Phillips vice president, finance and chief financial officer for Budget's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, and named John Costanza as vice president of information technology.