Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Except as expressly indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, the “Company,” “Avis Budget,” “we,” “our” or “us” means Avis Budget Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. “Avis,” “Budget,” “Budget Truck,” “Zipcar,” “Payless,” “Apex,” “Maggiore,” “Morini Rent,” “Turiscar,” “FranceCars” and “ACL Hire” refer to our Avis Rent A Car System, LLC, Budget Rent A Car System, Inc., Budget Truck Rental, LLC, Zipcar, Inc., Payless Car Rental, Inc., Apex Car Rentals, Maggiore Rent S.p.A., Morini S.p.A., Turiscar Group, AAA France Cars SAS and ACL Hire Ltd. operations, respectively, and, unless the context otherwise requires, do not include the operations of our licensees, as further discussed below.
OVERVIEW
We are a leading global provider of mobility solutions through our three most recognized brands, Avis, Budget and Zipcar, together with several other brands, well recognized in their respective markets. Our brands offer a range of options, from car and truck rental to car sharing. We and our licensees operate our brands in approximately 180 countries throughout the world. We generally maintain a leading share of airport car rental revenues in North America, Europe and Australasia, and we operate a leading car sharing network, as well as one of the leading commercial truck rental businesses in the United States. Our brands and mobility solutions have an extended global reach with more than 10,600 rental locations throughout the world, including approximately 4,100 locations operated by our licensees. We believe that Avis, Budget and Zipcar enjoy complementary demand patterns with mid-week commercial demand balanced by weekend leisure demand.
Positive momentum from fourth quarter 2019 continued into January and February 2020; however, travel restrictions broadly implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 negatively affected reservations and revenue throughout the remainder of 2020. By reducing fleet, matching staffing levels to demand and reducing operational costs, and pausing capital spending, among other actions, we proactively managed declining reservations and revenue. As a result, for 2020, our global rental fleet, on average, totaled approximately 533,000 vehicles, 19% lower compared to 2019 and we completed approximately 22 million vehicle rental transactions worldwide, 47% lower compared to 2019. Our revenue was approximately $5.4 billion, 41% lower compared to 2019. We experienced longer lengths of rental compared to 2019, driven by an increase in monthly and leisure vehicle rentals. Revenue generated from on-airport locations was approximately 50%, a 14% reduction compared to 2019.
We categorize our operations into two reportable business segments:
• Americas , which provides and licenses the Company’s brands to third parties for vehicle rentals and ancillary products and services in North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and operates the Company’s car sharing business in certain of these markets; and
• International , which provides and licenses the Company’s brands to third parties for vehicle rentals and ancillary products and services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia, and operates the Company’s car sharing business in certain of these markets.
Additional discussion of our reportable segments is included in the Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
OUR STRATEGY
We began 2020 with a focus on driving sustainable and profitable growth by leveraging differentiated brands and products, delivering margins from our established businesses, and positioning our company as a global leader in the mobility sector. As we saw significant impacts on travel demand and the global economy from COVID-19, we proactively managed our business with cost removal and mitigation actions described above. At the same time, we prioritized health and safety, and launched a coalition designed to enhance the cleanliness and disinfection of
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our rental facilities and vehicles. We also increased the availability of our app-based Mobile Select product and facilities with automated exit gates to provide our customers with contactless, self-service rental transactions.
For 2021, as travel demand starts to normalize and the global economy emerges from COVID-19, we expect our strategy to continue to focus on cost discipline, revenue growth and reinvestment aimed at allowing the Company to increase profitability.
Cost Discipline
Through cost discipline, we aim to improve our Adjusted EBITDA margin by focusing on fixed and variable cost controls as well as vehicle costs. We believe we can increase our profitability by keeping fixed expenses to unavoidable or fundamentally necessary items and optimizing variable expense in controllable areas with clear metrics and visibility, permitting us to exit the COVID-19 crisis as a stronger, more adaptive company.
Revenue Growth
We seek to increase revenue through the delivery of a differentiated customer experience through technology and service. We expect to continue to enhance the customer experience we offer, including through an increase in the locations that offer our Mobile Select product, which provides a differentiated customer choice model, our Avis mobile application, recognized as one of the best mobile travel rental car applications, connected cars, and continued improvement in customer service. We also intend to drive revenue through continued enhancement of our operations in the off-airport, ride hail, package delivery and partnerships channels.
Reinvestment
We also intend to reinvest in our business, including in our systems and platforms, and potential new business models, including expanding our risk vehicle dispositions through our direct-to-consumer sales channels, which include online sales channels and strategically positioned Avis vehicle retail car sale lots, and in the evolving mobility sector based on our leading brands, global operations and our fleet management capabilities. We continue to believe that our company is well-positioned as a leader in the evolving mobility sector.
OUR BRANDS AND OPERATIONS
OUR BRANDS
Our Avis, Budget and Zipcar brands are three of the most recognized brands in our industry. We believe that each of our brands are positioned to be embraced by different target customers, and we see benefits and savings from our brands sharing some of the same maintenance facilities, fleet management systems, technology and administrative infrastructure. In addition, we are able to recognize benefits and savings by combining our car rental and car sharing maintenance activities and fleets at times to increase our fleet utilization efficiency and to meet demand peaks. These benefits have historically been further enhanced by complementary demand patterns balancing our business customers’ utilization during weekdays and our leisure and urban customers’ utilization on evenings and weekends. We also operate the Payless and Apex brands, which operate in the value segment of the car rental industry, augmenting our Avis, Budget and Zipcar brands. In addition, our Maggiore and Morini Rent brands in Italy, FranceCars brand in France and Turiscar brand in Portugal further extend the range of vehicle use occasions we are able to serve.
The following graphs present the approximate composition of our revenues in 2020.
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* Includes Budget Truck.
** Includes Zipcar and other operating brands.
*** Includes Budget Truck and Zipcar.
COVID-19 impacts have changed the composition of our revenues by market compared to prior year. In 2019, the mix for revenues by market was 64% airport and 36% off-airport.
The Avis brand provides high-quality vehicle rental and other mobility solutions at price points generally above non-branded and value-branded vehicle rental companies and serves the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry. We operate or license Avis vehicle rental locations at virtually all of the largest commercial airports and cities in the world.
The table below presents the approximate number of Avis locations as of December 31, 2020.
Avis Locations *
Americas International Total
Company-operated locations 1,700 1,200 2,900
Licensee locations 600 1,800 2,400
Total Avis Locations 2,300 3,000 5,300
* Certain locations support multiple brands.
In 2020, our Company-operated Avis locations generated total revenues of approximately $3.0 billion, of which approximately $1.4 billion was derived from commercial customers and approximately $1.6 billion was derived from customers renting at airports. The following graphs present the approximate composition of our Avis revenues in 2020.
We also license the Avis brand to independent commercial owners who operate approximately half of our locations worldwide and generally pay royalty fees to us based on a percentage of applicable revenues. In 2020, these royalty fees totaled approximately 1% of our Avis revenues.
We offer Avis customers a variety of premium services, including:
• the Avis mobile application, which allows customers a unique and innovative way to control many elements of their rental experience via their mobile devices without the need to visit the rental counter. The Avis mobile application also allows customers to track Avis shuttle buses to rental locations, find their vehicle, and locate nearby gas stations and parking facilities;
• Avis Preferred , a frequent renter rewards program that offers counter-bypass at major airport locations and reward points for every dollar spent on vehicle rentals and related products. Avis Mobile Select, the newest feature on the Avis mobile application, allows Avis Preferred customers to select their specific car via their mobile device upon arrival, proceed directly to the vehicle, and utilize a unique code to exit via our automated Express Exit for a completely contactless rental experience;
• the Avis Select Series , a selection of luxury vehicles including Mercedes, Jaguars, Corvettes, and others;
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• invited or earned customer status levels allowing for upgrades and counter bypass;
• availability of premium, sport and performance vehicles as well as eco-friendly vehicles, including gasoline/electric hybrids;
• access to portable navigation units, tablets and satellite radio service;
• Avis rental services such as roadside assistance, fuel service options, e-receipts, electronic toll collection services that allow customers to pay highway tolls without waiting in toll booth lines, and amenities such as Avis Access , a full range of special products and services for drivers and passengers with disabilities;
• Curbside Delivery, a service that provides customers at select airport locations in the United States with the added convenience of being dropped off at the airport terminal in the same car that they rented; and
• for our corporate customers, Avis Budget Group Business Intelligence, a proprietary customer reporting solution that provides a centralized reporting tool and customer reporting portal for all corporate clients around the globe, enabling them to easily view and analyze their rental activity, permitting them to better manage their travel budgets and monitor employee compliance with applicable travel policies.
Car Rental
The Budget brand is a leading supplier of vehicle rental and other mobility solutions focused primarily on more value-conscious customers. We operate or license Budget car rental locations at most of the largest airports and cities in the world.
The table below presents the approximate number of Budget locations as of December 31, 2020.
Budget Locations *
Americas International Total
Company-operated locations 1,350 900 2,250
Licensee locations 500 1,050 1,550
Total Budget Locations 1,850 1,950 3,800
* Certain locations support multiple brands.
We also license the Budget brand to independent commercial owners who operate approximately half of our locations worldwide and generally pay royalty fees to us based on a percentage of applicable revenues. In 2020, these royalty fees totaled approximately 1% of our Budget revenues.
Budget offers its customers several products and services similar to Avis, such as refueling options, roadside assistance, electronic toll collection, curbside delivery and other supplemental rental products, emailed receipts and special rental rates for frequent renters. In addition, Budget’s mobile application allows customers to reserve, modify and cancel reservations on their mobile device, and its Fastbreak service expedites rental service for frequent travelers.
Budget Truck
Our Budget Truck rental business is one of the largest local and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, our Budget Truck fleet is comprised of approximately 20,000 vehicles that are rented through a network of approximately 515 dealer-operated and 410 Company-operated locations throughout the continental United States. These dealers are independently-owned businesses that generally operate other retail service businesses. In addition to their principal businesses, the dealers rent our light- and medium-duty trucks and commercial cargo vans to customers and are responsible for collecting payments on our behalf. The dealers receive a commission on all truck, van and ancillary equipment rentals. The Budget Truck rental business serves both the light commercial and consumer sectors. The light commercial sector consists of a wide range of businesses that rent light- to medium-duty trucks, which we define as trucks having a
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gross vehicle weight of less than 26,000 pounds, for a variety of commercial applications. The consumer sector consists primarily of individuals who rent trucks to move household goods on either a one-way or local basis.
In 2020, our Company-operated Budget vehicle rental operations generated total revenues of approximately $1.9 billion, of which approximately $1.4 billion was derived from leisure customers and $0.9 billion was derived from customers renting at airports. The following graphs present the approximate composition of our Budget revenues in 2020.
Zipcar is a leading car sharing network, driven by a mission to enable simple and responsible urban living. With its wide variety of self-service vehicles available by the hour or day, Zipcar offers comprehensive, convenient and flexible car sharing options in urban areas and college campuses in hundreds of cities and towns. Zipcar provides its members on-demand, self-service vehicles in reserved parking spaces located in neighborhoods, business districts, office complexes and college campuses, as an alternative to car ownership. Members can reserve vehicles online, on a mobile device or over the phone, by the minute, hour or by the day, at rates that include gasoline, secondary insurance and other costs associated with vehicle ownership. We continue to offer our Zipcar Flex product in London providing for one-way rentals, including to and from Heathrow airport, which can be parked in public on-street spots in designated areas of the city.
Other Brands
Our other brands include the following:
• Payless, a leading rental car supplier serving the deep-value segment of the industry, which we license or operate in approximately 240 locations worldwide, including more than 150 locations operated by licensees and approximately 90 Company-operated locations.
◦ Company-operated Payless locations are primarily located in North America, the majority of which are at or near major airports. Payless’ rental fees are often lower than those of larger, more established vehicle rental brands.
◦ The Payless business model allows the Company to extend the life-cycle of a portion of our rental fleet, as we “cascade” certain vehicles that exceed certain Avis and Budget age or mileage thresholds to be used by Payless.
• Apex, which operates in approximately 30 rental locations at, or near, major airports and in several metropolitan cities in New Zealand and Australia.
◦ Apex generates reservations through proprietary websites as well as a contact center and online travel agencies and has typically had a greater-than-average length of rental.
• Maggiore, a leading vehicle rental brand in Italy, where we operate or license in approximately 150 rental locations throughout the country.
◦ Maggiore has a strong local reputation and benefits from a strong presence at airport, off-airport and railway locations and from the integration of our existing operations and rental fleet management expertise.
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• Morini Rent, a leading vehicle rental brand in Italy, which offers rental of cars, vans and refrigerated vehicles and which we operate or license in approximately 50 rental locations throughout the country.
• FranceCars, which operates one of the largest light commercial vehicle rental fleets in France in approximately 85 rental locations and leverages our existing operational processes and local customer base.
• Turiscar, a leading vehicle rental brand in Portugal, which operates primarily in the corporate market, including light commercial vehicles, at more than 25 rental locations throughout the country.
• ACL Hire, a provider of quality vehicle rental and maintenance services in the UK, with a strong focus on light commercial vehicles.
RESERVATIONS, MARKETING AND SALES
Reservations
Our customers can make vehicle rental reservations through our brand-specific websites and toll-free reservation centers, by calling a specific location directly, through our brand-specific mobile applications, online travel agencies, travel agents or through selected partners, including many major airlines, associations and retailers. Travel agents can access our reservation systems through all major global distribution systems, which provide information with respect to rental locations, vehicle availability and applicable rate structures.
Our Zipcar members may reserve cars by the minute, hour or by the day through Zipcar’s reservation system, which is accessible through the Zipcar website, through the Zipcar application on their smartphone or by phone. We also use two-way SMS texting, enabling us to proactively reach out to members during their reservation via their mobile device to manage their reservation, including reservation extension.
Marketing and Sales
We support our brands through a range of marketing channels and campaigns, including traditional media, such as television and print advertising, as well as Internet and email marketing, social media and mobile device applications. We market through sponsorships of major sports entities such as the PGA Tour, Pebble Beach, the New York Yankees, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and AC Milan FC. We also market through sponsorships of charitable organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We utilize a customer relationship management system that enables us to deliver more targeted and relevant offers to customers across online and offline channels and allows our customers to benefit through better and more relevant marketing, improved service delivery and loyalty programs that reward frequent renters with free rental days and car class upgrades.
We maintain strong links to the travel industry including marketing alliances with numerous marketing partners, such as American Airlines, and major hotel companies.
In addition, we have developed relationships that provide brand exposure and access to new customers, including deals to provide vehicles to ride-hail drivers in cities across North America.
Approximately 50% of vehicle rental transactions in 2020 from our Company-operated Avis locations were generated by travelers who rented from Avis under contracts between Avis and their employers or through membership in an organization with which Avis has a contractual affiliation (such as AARP and Costco Wholesale). This percentage is lower compared to the 2019 percentage of 60% as a result of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, which among other things, drove a decrease in commercial travel. The Company offers Business Intelligence, an online portal complete with rental summary dashboards, visualizations and detailed reports that provides our corporate customers with insight into their program’s performance, giving them direct access to more data in a customer-facing portal offering useful data insights, including options to customize and schedule reports. Avis also maintains marketing relationships with other organizations such as American Express, MasterCard International and others, through which we are able to provide their customers with incentives to rent from Avis. Generally, Avis licensees also have the option to participate in these affiliations.
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Additionally, we offer “Unlimited Rewards ® ,” an award-winning loyalty incentive program for travel agents, and Avis and Budget programs for small businesses that offer discounted rates, central billing options and rental credits to members. Budget has contractual arrangements with American Express, MasterCard International and other organizations, which offer members incentives to rent from Budget.
Our Zipcar brand utilizes a diverse set of marketing and sales strategies to acquire and engage members, including digital marketing, email and in-app messaging, and social media engagement. Zipcar maintains close relationships with universities that provide access to campuses and various marketing channels to attract students, who upon graduation may continue their relationship with us. Through our Zipcar for Business program, we also offer direct-bill accounts and employee benefit programs to companies, federal agencies and local governments that support the use of Zipcars.
LICENSING
We have licensees in approximately 175 countries throughout the world. Royalty fee revenues derived from our vehicle rental licensees in 2020 totaled $78 million, with approximately $57 million in our International segment and $21 million in our Americas segment. Licensed locations are independently operated by our licensees and range from large operations at major airport locations and territories encompassing entire countries to relatively small operations in suburban or rural locations. Our licensees generally maintain separate independently owned and operated fleets. Royalties generated from licensing provide us with a source of high-margin revenue because there are relatively limited additional costs associated with fees paid by licensees to us. In some geographies we facilitate one-way vehicle rentals between Company-operated and licensed locations, which enables us to offer an integrated network of locations to our customers.
We generally enjoy good relationships with our licensees and meet regularly with them at regional, national and international meetings. Our relationships with our licensees are governed by license agreements that grant the licensee the right to operate independently operated vehicle rental businesses in certain territories. Our license agreements generally provide our licensees with the exclusive right to operate under one or more of our brands in their assigned territory. These agreements impose obligations on the licensee regarding its operations, and most agreements restrict the licensee’s ability to sell, transfer or assign its rights granted under the license agreement or to change the control of its ownership without our consent.
The terms of our license agreements, including duration, royalty fees and termination provisions, vary based upon brand, territory, and original signing date. Royalty fees are generally structured to be a percentage of the licensee’s gross rental income. We maintain the right to monitor the operations of licensees and, when applicable, can declare a licensee to be in default under its license agreement. We perform audits as part of our program to assure licensee compliance with brand quality standards and contract provisions. Generally, we can terminate license agreements for certain defaults, including failure to pay royalties or to adhere to our operational standards. Upon termination of a license agreement, the licensee is prohibited from using our brand names and related marks in any business. In the United States, these license relationships constitute “franchises” under most federal and state laws regulating the offer and sale of franchises and the relationship of the parties to a franchise agreement.
We continue to optimize the Avis and Budget brands by issuing new license agreements and periodically acquiring licensees to grow our revenues and expand our global presence. Discussion of our recent acquisitions is included in Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
OTHER REVENUES
In addition to revenues derived from time and mileage fees from our vehicle rentals and licensee royalties, we generate revenues from our customers through the sale and/or rental of optional ancillary products and services. We offer products to customers that will enhance their rental experience, including:
• collision and loss damage waivers, under which we agree to relieve a customer from financial responsibility arising from vehicle damage incurred during the rental;
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• additional/supplemental liability insurance or personal accident/effects insurance products which provide customers with additional protections for personal or third-party losses incurred;
• products for driving convenience such as fuel service options, roadside assistance services, electronic toll collection services, curbside delivery, tablet rentals, access to satellite radio, portable navigation units and child safety seat rentals; and
• products that supplement truck rental including automobile towing equipment and other moving accessories such as hand trucks, furniture pads and moving supplies.
We offer customized bundling of certain of these ancillary products and services, allowing our customers to benefit from discounted pricing and providing customers the flexibility to add multiple products or services that suit their needs.
We also receive payment from our customers for certain operating expenses that we incur, including vehicle licensing fees, as well as airport concession fees that we pay in exchange for the right to operate at airports and other locations. In addition, we collect membership fees in connection with our car sharing business.
OUR FLEET
We offer a wide variety of vehicles in our rental fleet, including luxury cars, specialty-use vehicles and light commercial vehicles. Our fleet consists primarily of vehicles from the current and immediately preceding model year. We maintain a single fleet of vehicles for Avis and Budget in countries where we operate both brands. The substantial majority of Zipcar’s fleet is dedicated to use by Zipcar.
Fleet Purchases
We maintain a diverse rental fleet, in which no vehicle manufacturer represented more than 13% of our 2020 fleet purchases, and we regularly adjust our fleet levels to be consistent with demand. We participate in a variety of vehicle purchase programs with major vehicle manufacturers. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we reduced our fleet purchases by 56% compared to 2019 as we sought to proactively manage our fleet size. The following presents the approximate percentage of fleet purchases by manufacturer in 2020.
* Includes all manufacturers for which fleet purchases were less than 5%.
Fleet costs represented approximately 22% of our aggregate expenses in 2020. Fleet costs can vary from year to year based on the prices at which we are able to purchase and dispose of rental vehicles, the mix of risk and program vehicles, holding periods, and overall fleet mix.
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In 2020, approximately 24% of our average rental fleet was comprised of the following:
• vehicles subject to agreements requiring automobile manufacturers to repurchase vehicles at a specified price during a specified time period or guarantee our rate of depreciation on the vehicles during a specified period of time; or
• vehicles subject to operating leases, which are subject to a fixed lease period and interest rate.
We refer to vehicles subject to these agreements as “program” vehicles and vehicles not subject to these agreements as “risk” vehicles because we retain the risk associated with such vehicles’ residual values at the time of their disposition. The following graphs present the approximate percentage of program vehicles in both our average rental fleet and purchases within each of our reporting segments in the last three years.
Our agreements with automobile manufacturers typically require that we pay more for program vehicles and maintain them in our fleet for a minimum number of months and impose certain return conditions, including vehicle condition and mileage requirements. When we return program vehicles to the manufacturer, we receive the price guaranteed at the time of purchase and are therefore protected from fluctuations in the prices of previously-owned vehicles in the wholesale market. In 2020, approximately 38% of the vehicles we disposed of were sold pursuant to repurchase or guaranteed depreciation programs. The future percentages of program and risk vehicles in our fleet will depend on several factors, including our expectations for future used vehicle prices, our seasonal needs and the availability and attractiveness of manufacturers’ repurchase and guaranteed depreciation programs.
Fleet Dispositions
We dispose of our risk vehicles largely through resale and alternative disposition channels, including direct-to-consumer, online auctions, and direct-to-dealer sales, as well as through more traditional automobile auctions. Alternative disposition channels provide the opportunity to increase vehicle sales prices and reduce relevant fleet costs compared to selling vehicles at auctions. We have continued to expand the scope of our direct-to-consumer vehicle sales program, growing sales of our risk vehicles directly to consumers through our Ultimate Test Drive (UTD) online program and our approximately 15 physical retail locations. Both our UTD program and retail locations offer customers the ability to purchase well-maintained, late-model rental vehicles from our fleet. We dispose of our program vehicles in accordance with repurchase or guaranteed depreciation programs with major vehicle manufacturers.
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Fleet Utilization
In 2020, our average quarterly vehicle rental fleet size ranged from a low of approximately 440,000 vehicles in fourth quarter to a high of approximately 610,000 vehicles in first quarter. Average fleet utilization for 2020, which is based on the number of rental days (or portion thereof) that vehicles are rented compared to the total amount of time that vehicles are available for rent, ranged from approximately 35% in second quarter to approximately 62% in first and fourth quarters. Our average car rental fleet size and utilization are typically highest during the third quarter of each year. Our calculation of utilization may not be comparable to other companies’ calculation of similarly titled metrics.
Fleet Maintenance
We place a strong emphasis on the quality of our vehicle maintenance for customer safety and customer satisfaction reasons, and because quick and proper repairs are critical to fleet utilization. To accomplish this task, we developed specialized training programs for our technicians. Our Supply Chain Department prepares technical service bulletins that can be retrieved electronically at our repair locations. In addition, we have implemented policies and procedures to promptly address manufacturer recalls as part of our ongoing maintenance and repair efforts.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Our commitment to delivering a consistently high level of customer service across all of our brands is a critical element of our success and business strategy. Our Customer Led, Service Driven ™ program focuses on continually improving the overall customer experience based on our research of customer service practices, improved customer insights, executing our customer relationship management strategy, delivering customer-centric employee training and leverage our mobile applications technology and the enriched experience it provides our customers. In addition, our social media platform allows us to engage with our customers in their preferred channel, which enables us to meet the needs of our customers while promoting our brands to gain more market share and drive customer loyalty.
The employees at our Company-operated locations are trained and empowered to resolve most customer issues at the location level. We also continuously track customer-satisfaction levels by sending location-specific surveys to recent customers and utilize detailed reports and tracking to assess and identify ways that we can improve our customer service delivery and the overall customer experience. Our location-specific surveys ask customers to evaluate their overall satisfaction with their rental experience and the likelihood that they will recommend our brands, as well as key elements of the rental experience. Results are analyzed in aggregate and by location to help further enhance our service levels to our customers.
During 2020, in response to COVID-19, we launched the “Avis Safety Pledge” and “Budget Worry-Free Promise,” designed to keep our customers and employees safe through a partnership with RB, the maker of Lysol, to enhance the cleanliness and disinfection of our rental facilities and vehicles. RB is also part of a coalition we formed with Hip Hop Public Health, a national nonprofit organization that creates engaging content to drive behavioral change and supplements our employee training for consistent, responsible habits and to optimize the effectiveness of our cleaning protocols. Our facilities are also utilizing plexiglass shields along with signage and floor markings to encourage safety habits and social distancing, and we have provided our staff with masks, hand sanitizer and gloves and we make this protective equipment available to our customers.
We also offer rental options that provide greater control, self-service and contactless capabilities. While our mobile applications provide a fast customer experience, a company representative is available to meet customers’ needs. Our survey platform includes specific questions to learn more about individual preferences and find innovative ways to better serve and anticipate our customers’ needs.
AIRPORT CONCESSION AGREEMENTS
We generally operate our vehicle rental and car sharing services at airports under concession agreements with airport authorities, pursuant to which we typically make airport concession payments and/or lease payments. In general, concession fees for on-airport locations are based on a percentage of total commissionable revenues (as defined by each airport authority), often subject to minimum annual guaranteed amounts. Concessions are typically awarded by airport authorities every three to ten years based upon competitive bids. Our concession
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agreements with the various airport authorities generally impose certain minimum operating requirements, provide for relocation in the event of future construction and provide for abatement of the minimum annual guarantee in the event of extended low passenger volume.
OTHER BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
SEASONALITY
Our operating results are subject to variability due to seasonality, macroeconomic conditions and other factors. Car rental volumes tend to be associated with the travel industry, particularly airline passenger volumes, or enplanements, which in turn tend to reflect general economic conditions. Our operations are also seasonal, with the third quarter of the year historically having been our strongest due to the increased level of leisure travel during the quarter. We have a partially variable cost structure and routinely adjust the size, and therefore the cost, of our rental fleet in response to fluctuations in demand.
The following chart presents our quarterly revenues for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
COMPETITION
The competitive environment for our industry is generally characterized by intense price and service competition among global, local and regional competitors. Competition in our vehicle rental operations is based primarily upon price, customer service quality, including usability of booking systems and ease of rental and return, vehicle availability, reliability, rental locations, product innovation and national or international distribution. In addition, competition is also influenced strongly by advertising, marketing, loyalty programs and brand reputation. We believe the prominence and service reputation of our brands, extensive worldwide ownership of mobility solutions and commitment to innovation provides us with a competitive advantage.
The use of technology has increased pricing transparency among vehicle rental companies and other mobility solutions providers enabling cost-conscious customers to more easily compare on the Internet and their mobile devices the rates available for the mobility solutions that fit their needs. This transparency has further increased the prevalence and intensity of price competition in the industry.
Our vehicle rental operations compete primarily with Enterprise Holdings, Inc., which operates the Enterprise, National and Alamo car rental brands; Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., which operates the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands; Europcar Mobility Group, which operates the Europcar, Goldcar, InterRent, Buchbinder and Ubeeqo brands; and Sixt AG. We also compete with smaller local and regional vehicle rental companies for vehicle rental market share, and with ride-hailing companies largely for short length trips in urban areas. Our Zipcar brand also competes with various local and regional mobility companies, including mobility services sponsored by several auto manufacturers, ride-hailing and car sharing companies and other technology players in the mobility industry. Our Budget Truck operations in the United States competes with several other local, regional and nationwide truck rental companies including U-Haul International, Inc., Penske Truck Leasing Corporation, Ryder Systems, Inc. and Enterprise.
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INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Our vehicle rental and corporate operations expose us to various types of claims for bodily injury, death and property damage related to the use of our vehicles and/or properties, as well as general employment-related matters stemming from our operations. In addition, we currently purchase insurance coverage to limit our exposure to legal fees and expenses resulting from cybersecurity breaches. We generally retain economic exposure for liability to third parties arising from vehicle rental and car sharing services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in accordance with the minimum financial responsibility requirements (“MFRs”) and primacy of coverage laws of the relevant jurisdiction. In certain cases, we assume liability above applicable MFRs, up to $1 million per occurrence, other than in cases involving a negligent act on the part of the Company, for which we purchase insurance coverage for exposures beyond retained amounts from a combination of unaffiliated excess insurers.
In Europe, we insure the risk of liability to third parties arising from vehicle rental and car sharing services in accordance with local regulatory requirements primarily through insurance policies provided by unaffiliated insurers. We retain a portion of the insured risk of liability through local deductibles, and by reinsuring certain risks through our captive insurance subsidiary AEGIS Motor Insurance Limited. In Australasia, motor vehicle bodily injury insurance coverage is compulsory and provided upon vehicle registration. In addition, we provide our customers with third-party property damage insurance through an unaffiliated third-party insurer. We retain a share of property damage risk through AEGIS Motor Insurance Limited. AEGIS Motor Insurance Limited reinsures certain risks through an unaffiliated company, which limits its liabilities. We insure the risk of liability to third parties in Argentina through unaffiliated insurers.
We offer our U.S. customers a range of optional insurance products and coverages such as supplemental liability insurance, personal accident insurance, personal effects protection, emergency sickness protection, automobile towing protection and cargo insurance, which create additional risk exposure for us. When a customer elects to purchase supplemental liability insurance or other optional insurance related products, we typically retain economic exposure to loss, since the insurance is provided by an unaffiliated insurer that is reinsuring its exposure through our captive insurance subsidiary, Constellation Reinsurance Co., Ltd. Additional personal accident insurance offered to our customers in Europe and Australasia is provided by a third-party insurer, and primarily reinsured by our Avis Budget Europe International Reinsurance Limited subsidiary. We also maintain excess insurance coverage through unaffiliated carriers to help mitigate our potential exposure to large liability losses. We otherwise bear these and other risks, except to the extent that the risks are transferred through insurance or contractual arrangements.
OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We rely primarily on a combination of trademark, trade secret and copyright laws, as well as contractual provisions with employees and third parties, to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. The service marks “Avis,” “Budget” and “Zipcar” and related marks or designs incorporating such terms and related logos and marks such as “We Try Harder,” “We Know The Road” and “Own The Trip, Not The Car” are material to our vehicle rental and car sharing businesses. Our subsidiaries and licensees actively use these marks. All of the material marks used by Avis, Budget and Zipcar are registered (or have applications pending for registration) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well as in foreign jurisdictions. Our subsidiaries own the marks and other intellectual property, including the Wizard system, used in our business. We also own trademarks and logos related to the “Apex Car Rentals” brand in Australia and New Zealand, the “Payless Car Rental” brand in the United States and several other countries, the “Maggiore” and “Morini Rent” brands in Italy, the “FranceCars” brand in France and the “Turiscar” brand in Portugal. Our subsidiaries have also filed patent applications pertaining to fleet and connected car technology in the U.S. and other countries.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
At Avis Budget Group, we take our responsibilities as a corporate citizen seriously. We are aware of how our actions can benefit the community and are sensitive to the needs of the environment, our customers and our employees.
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Our practices in corporate social responsibility focus on our people, our communities, and our planet. We are committed to the highest standards of ethics, integrity and compliance in all respects of our business.
Our People: We believe that our success has its foundation in how we treat our employees. In concert with our core values, we seek to foster an environment where communication among our employees is open, honest, and respectful; performance is recognized; growth is encouraged; and accomplishments - individual and collective - are celebrated. We also seek to support the well-being and development of the people we employ and the communities in which they work.
Our Communities : We help and encourage our employees to connect to the communities in which they reside. Through our “Inspire the World” program we challenge our employees to dedicate an hour of their time to a local cause close to their hearts. As well as empowering our employees to volunteer in their local communities, we are committed to helping a variety of causes and charities that support people in crisis situations and who live with life-threatening illnesses. Those we support were chosen because our employees told us that charities that support women and children are the most important to them.
• Being Prepared When Disaster Strikes: Over the past seventy years, we have developed strong competencies in responding to business disruptions. Whether the disruption is man-made, an extreme weather event or a global health crisis, our business continuity programs are central to how we respond in times of crisis. Our program’s focus is on preparing and protecting our people, property and infrastructure. We utilize an “all hands on deck” approach within our incident management and command structure to ensure that we respond as rapidly and effectively as possible. We have also developed longstanding partnerships with leading national disaster response agencies, which strengthen our ability to provide support to affected customers, employees and communities.
The Environment: As a responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to monitoring, measuring and managing our environmental impact, and working to reduce it where practicable on an ongoing basis. This enables us to meet customer expectations while building a resilient business for generations to come. The following illustrates these commitments:
• Environmental Footprint: Through our continuous improvement approach, we work proactively to address the environmental challenges that impact our business. Guided by our Environmental Policy, we focus on the environmental issues most important to us and our stakeholders.
• Sustainable Operations: We are driving the efficiencies needed to reduce our environmental impact and enhance the sustainability of our operations. These are mainly driven by improvements on vehicle preventive maintenance, the incorporation of green building practices and by complying with all environmental regulations.
• Carbon Offset Program: We are committed to helping educate both consumers and travel professionals on their environmental impact from rental car use and on how that can be reduced. We also work closely with our corporate customers to help them achieve their environmental impact reduction targets through our carbon offset program.
• Sustainable Fleet: We have been actively anticipating and driving changes in mobility. Connected and autonomous vehicles are likely to become a common feature worldwide, along with an increase use of electric and shared vehicles, which is why we’re building on our core experience, data intelligence and technology to develop entirely new lines of business and extend our offering and capabilities for our customers, businesses and cities. Our efforts include:
◦ Car Sharing: Our Zipcar car sharing technology was designed and specifically built for our car sharing business and has been continually refined and upgraded. With more than one million members worldwide, Zipcar is taking thousands of vehicles off the road and reducing congestion. In addition, car sharing members report notable reductions in their own driving behavior after joining.
◦ Connected Vehicles: Connected vehicles support our ability to reduce emissions through a steadfast focus on fleet maintenance and optimization .
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◦ Fleet Efficiency: We offer our customers the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of vehicles, including hybrids, electric or fuel efficient vehicles at almost all of our locations. Our fleet consists primarily of vehicles from the current and immediately preceding model year - this ensures the highest possible standards of air emissions control. Our hybrid fleet is one of the largest in our industry with approximately 21,000 hybrid vehicles globally .
Our most recent Corporate Social Responsibility Report (“CSR”) is available on the Company’s website. The information contained on the Company’s website is not included in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
OUR HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT
Our human capital objectives include identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and future or prospective employees. Our compensation program is designed to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified employees and executives.
Employees
As of December 31, 2020, we employed approximately 20,000 people worldwide, of whom approximately 5,000 were employed on a part-time basis. Of our approximately 20,000 employees, approximately 8,300 were employed in our International segment. In our Americas segment, the majority of our employees are at-will employees and, therefore, not subject to any type of employment contract or agreement. In our International segment, we enter into employment contracts and agreements in those countries in which such relationships are mandatory or customary. The provisions of these agreements correspond in each case with the required or customary terms in the subject jurisdiction. Many of our employees are covered by a variety of union contracts and governmental regulations affecting, among other things, compensation, job retention rights and pensions.
We strive to maintain satisfactory relationships with all of our employees, including the unions and work councils representing these employees. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 21% of our employees were covered by collective bargaining or similar agreements with various labor unions. We believe our employee relations are satisfactory. We have never experienced a large-scale work stoppage.
Employee Benefits
Supporting our employees with the right benefits is one of the most important things we do. We understand benefits are a key element to a total reward package, so ensuring we provide meaningful benefit programs and resources across the globe is an integral part of how we reward employees, including with respect to healthcare and retirement. As a global company, benefits will vary by country to reflect local practices and cultures, but our commitment to providing comprehensive and meaningful benefits and resources is consistent across the world. We continuously review and, when necessary, update our programs to ensure they remain flexible, competitive, and aligned to what is important for our employees and their families.
Global Gender Pay Equity
To ensure we are compensating both men and women employees fairly and equitably, we transitioned to a global Center of Excellence total rewards function five years ago with the aim to standardize and harmonize our rewards programs across all countries. As a result, we have established pay programs that provide for equal incentive pay opportunity for all employees in same or similar positions across the globe. Additionally, we utilize global guidelines and standards to inform compensation decisions for all new hires and promotions. To monitor our performance for our management employees, we evaluate base salary placement relative to our internal salary ranges for men and women. For our hourly field workforce (non-management employees), we maintain pay equity through our standardized compensation practices in which all employees begin at the same start rate, based on their location and position, and annual pay increases are applied consistently to all employees based on tenure.
Recruitment and Development
Our talent strategy is solidly rooted in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. We run numerous recruitment programs that aim to give back to our local communities. Our Talent Acquisition teams have strong relationships
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with organizations that help us reach a diverse pool of candidates including LGBTQ+ and those with physical or mental disabilities. We believe that our employees possess a wealth of knowledge that could and should be shared with others. We have a wealth of established learning and talent programs that we make available to our employees and in 2019 we launched a bespoke digital learning platform that has transformed the way we produce, manage and share learning resources.
Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
We embrace diversity and inclusion. We value each employee around the world, whose talent, skill and personality have helped establish us as a leading global mobility provider. We believe that embracing and promoting diversity is a critical component of our success and we have committed to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. As an equal-opportunity employer, we are proud to provide an inclusive workplace that embraces and celebrates demographic, cultural and lifestyle differences. We strive to have a diverse and inclusive work environment where co-workers feel valued for their uniqueness, recognized for their diverse talents, and where they can bring their whole selves to work. We have created employee resource groups (“ERGs”), company-sponsored group comprised of employees from diverse backgrounds that advocate equality, opportunities for advancement, and facilitate discussion around best practices and resources to more targeted cultural and racial understanding and diversity. These ERGs provide a space where employees can foster connections and develop in a supportive environment. As of the end of 2020, we had three ERGs : Power of WOMEN; Power of Veterans; and Power of COLOR.
Health and Safety
The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority because our people are our most valuable asset. Consistent with our operating philosophy, we are committed to safety and our core belief is that health and safety is every employee’s responsibility, not only for our employees but for our customers, vendors, and all stakeholders. We currently collect incident rates to track safety performance for our United States operations, which represents our largest employee population. In addition to numerous proactive actions taken to ensure employee safety, our focus is also evident in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the launch of the Avis Safety Pledge and the Budget Worry-Free Promise to help provide a safe and convenient rental experience by enhancing our cleaning protocols. We contracted with a council of medical professionals to provide feedback and consultation on our safety protocols and practices. In addition, we partnered with an organization that creates innovative behavioral based training to ensure our staff is properly skilled and educated on safety related to the pandemic. In response to COVID-19, we have also added work-from-home flexibility for employees who can work remotely; implemented temperature screening of employees at the majority of our locations in the United States; established new physical distancing procedures; provided additional personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies; modified certain work spaces with plexiglass dividers; implemented protocols to address actual and suspected COVID-19 cases and potential exposure; and required masks to be worn in all locations where allowed by local law. We will continue to provide our staff with hand sanitizer, gloves and masks and conduct daily health self-assessments before shifts where we are permitted to do so. We will continue to offer an enhanced sick leave policy and offer employees COVID-19 testing free of charge.
Well-being
We take a holistic approach to well- being. We understand that to deliver our best performance, our employees need to be healthy and happy in all areas of their lives. Our Live Well program focuses on helping our people achieve all aspects of well-being through habits and activities that promote physical, financial and emotional well-being.
REGULATION
We are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate, including those relating to, among others, consumer protection, insurance products and rates, franchising, customer privacy and data protection, securities and public disclosure, competition and antitrust, environmental matters, taxes, automobile-related liability, corruption and anti-bribery, labor and employment matters, health and safety, claims management, automotive retail sales, currency-exchange and other various banking and financial industry regulations, cost and fee recovery, the protection of our trademarks and other intellectual property, and local ownership or investment requirements. Additional information about the regulations that we are subject to can be found in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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COMPANY INFORMATION
Our principal executive office is located at 6 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 (our telephone number is 973-496-4700). The Company files electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) required reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 11-K; proxy materials; registration statements and other forms or reports as required. Certain of the Company’s officers, directors and stockholders also file statements of beneficial ownership and of changes in beneficial ownership on Forms 3, 4 and 5 with the SEC. Such materials may be accessed electronically on the SEC’s Internet site (sec.gov). The Company maintains a website (avisbudgetgroup.com) and copies of our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, Section 16 reports, proxy materials and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished with the SEC are available free of charge in the Investor Relations section of our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after filing with the SEC. Copies of our board committee charters, Codes of Conduct and Ethics, Corporate Governance Guidelines and other corporate governance information are also available on our website. If the Company should decide to amend any of its board committee charters, Codes of Conduct and Ethics or other corporate governance documents, copies of such amendments will be made available to the public through the Company’s website. The information contained on the Company’s website is not included in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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