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Hertz CEO gambled it all on EVs, now he’s resigning in disgrace
American Thinker ^ | 03/19/24 | Olivia Murray

Posted on 03/19/2024 9:21:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

As John Adams said:

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Now, if Stephen Scherr had taken Adams’s observation into consideration, he might still have a job. (However, no sympathy from me; he’ll be employed in no time at all, making more bad decisions that inevitably cost me money, in one way or another.) From a report at the New York Post this afternoon:

Hertz, one of the four largest car rental companies in the world, is replacing its CEO after the company reversed its bet on electric vehicle rentals over increasing costs.

Stephen Scherr will step down as Hertz Global Holdings Inc.’s chief executive officer and member of the company’s Board of Directors effective March 31, the company announced Friday.

Scherr’s resignation comes as the car rental company struggles with the higher repair costs and low demand for EV rentals.

I’ve previously written on Hertz’s battery-powered car flops—first in November, when Hertz had to admit it wasn’t even close to meeting its goal of an expansive E.V. fleet because the cars were way too expensive with too many liabilities; then in January of this year, when the company announced it was reneging on its promise altogether, and selling off around half(?) of the E.V.s the company still had.

To bring this back to Adams’s wisdom, the stubborn facts of E.V.s remain—and the idea that a car rental company would transition a major portion of its fleet to E.V.s… is one of the dumbest and most asinine corporate decisions I’ve ever heard.


(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ceo; climatechange; electric; electricvehicle; electricvehicles; ev; evs; hertz; vehicle; vehicles
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To: SeekAndFind

“Did this CEO ever even think of the marketing implications of converting large swaths of his vehicles to electric today?”

You bet he did. He and the Marketing VP thought “We are going to get ahead of this EV craze and be big winners. The public will LOVE us. We will clobber the competition with EVs.”

They drank gallons of the EV Kool-Ade.


21 posted on 03/19/2024 9:45:54 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Yes it is. And they’re back to fully-sponsoring Team Jota’s Porsche 963 HyperCar, at well over $15m+ a season in the FIA’s WEC/ IMSA races for 2024. They also partially-sponsor an IndyCar in its 2024 season.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/why-hertz-is-getting-back-into-racing


22 posted on 03/19/2024 9:47:02 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: Captain Peter Blood
"On the positive side, those people who would like to try out an EV can probably pick one up from Hertz for half the cost at least, and maybe still qualify for the EV tax credit"

I wouldn't park one of those incendiary devices in my garage if they gave it to me for free.

23 posted on 03/19/2024 9:49:21 AM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell>)
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To: SeekAndFind

If he gets a golden handshake and/or some high paying sinecure, he’ll be laughing all the way to the bank...


24 posted on 03/19/2024 9:49:27 AM PDT by mewzilla (Never give up; never surrender!)
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To: pas

Golden parachute. He will be fine.

*************

Exactly right. Its easy to deal with a little opprobrium when you have tens of millions to cheer you up.


25 posted on 03/19/2024 9:49:42 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: SeekAndFind

Herz was already on life support so they go all in and spend billions on EV’s. Such an obviously bad idea. No one renting a car wants the hassle dealing with charging sheesh. Now they are screwed twice because it’s easier to sell an 8 track player than a used EV


26 posted on 03/19/2024 9:54:29 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: SeekAndFind

I was a Hertz customer (business travel) for years and they had the best rewards program in the industry. My first post covid trip to the UK all they had at LHR was electric vehicles. No thanks.


27 posted on 03/19/2024 10:00:44 AM PDT by OSHA (Dale Carnegie has a restraining order against me.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Common sense is a prized commodity nowadays!


28 posted on 03/19/2024 10:03:03 AM PDT by old school
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To: SeekAndFind

Did a trip to the Nashville area and reserved a “mystery car” from Herz because it was the cheapest option. When I showed up for the car they told me it was an EV. Nope! I told them to get me something else. I don’t care care if it costs more; I’m not wasting vacation time stressing about charging stations and all that garbage.
I am not surprised this failed. Who couldn’t see that coming? This fired CEO I guess.


29 posted on 03/19/2024 10:08:08 AM PDT by vpintheak (Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug. )
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To: SamAdams76

I agree with you about renting EVs.

I did rent a hybrid last year and it was very nice.


30 posted on 03/19/2024 10:08:37 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: Rennes Templar
Hertz... reversed its bet on electric vehicle rentals...

Too late. Hertz doesn't deserve one more second of your time.

31 posted on 03/19/2024 10:13:05 AM PDT by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: PGR88

Good post. To be fair to the guy who made the worst business decision of the last ten years outside of Anheuser-Busch, the car rental industry is one that is almost completely “commoditized.” Your customers are always looking for the cheapest option for the size and comfort level they want, so there are very few options for a major player like Hertz to set itself apart from its competitors. This is one that might have actually worked if they had done it in small steps instead of one big step.


32 posted on 03/19/2024 10:29:26 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (If something in government doesn’t make sense, you can be sure it makes dollars.)
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To: Leep

You’re right. It’s more power for corrupt white liberal ‘elties’...


33 posted on 03/19/2024 10:40:36 AM PDT by GOPJ (If you don't benefit from treason, eventually you become a Trump voter. - - Dave Conley)
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To: SeekAndFind

This guy can offer no reasonable rational explanation for what he did except that he thought it was the way the government wanted him to go.


34 posted on 03/19/2024 10:40:50 AM PDT by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: FroggyTheGremlim
"I didn’t go to Harvard, Yale or one of those big Ivy League schools where every graduate has all the right answers"

I appreciate the sarcasm, but you aren't keeping up with the times. Universities like those are no longer graduating students based on merit, they're graduating based on melanin. The Harvard president couldn't even produce a high school term paper properly, much less a PhD thesis. Their graduates are worth less than their carbon equivalent in coal.

35 posted on 03/19/2024 10:44:14 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage
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To: SeekAndFind

LOL 100,000??? maybe 1000cars to NYC, Boston, Miami and LA as a test market might have been in order...


36 posted on 03/19/2024 10:46:59 AM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: SeekAndFind

With current DC, Hertz drops to 0.


37 posted on 03/19/2024 10:59:00 AM PDT by Dr.Deth
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To: Alberta's Child
so there are very few options for a major player like Hertz to set itself apart from its competitors.

Exactly.

Americans' love of fantasy,fictional heroes and political slogans extends to the corporate suite. A CEO who instead focused on steady incremental improvements, basic cost controls, and operational efficiency (necessary for any commodity business) would be declared "to have no vision."

38 posted on 03/19/2024 11:18:41 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: SeekAndFind

Disgrace, and I am sure a golden parachute worth more than most people will earn in their entire lives of working


39 posted on 03/19/2024 11:20:10 AM PDT by HamiltonJay ( )
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To: Jeff Chandler
Hybrids are fine. I had a rental that was a hybrid.

An all EV rental would be a nightmare.

Unless hotels had a large number of charging stations for their guests, I have no idea how it would work.

40 posted on 03/19/2024 12:16:22 PM PDT by boop (YOU sit in YOUR seat!)
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