Last year Hertz piloted a rental program for Lyft drivers in Las Vegas and Denver. Now the car rental firm is expanding the program for Lyft, and is adding more Uber drivers, according to Reuters. In addition to giving Lyft and Uber drivers another way to secure cars for both business and personal use, the program also could be a way for Hertz to earn money from cars it ages out of its regular rental fleet before selling them, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Lyft drivers will be able to rent cars from Hertz in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The new pilot program for Uber drivers, which could expand if it goes well, lets drivers in Los Angeles rent cars from specified Hertz locations not at airports.
Hertz will not set the weekly rental rates for rideshare drivers, but rather leave pricing up to Uber and Lyft, the Wall Street Journal reported. This arrangement allows the two largest and most competitive rideshare companies to run promotional driver recruiting programs. A Hertz spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the current arrangement with Uber and Lyft sets the rate for drivers at $180 a week for a mid-sized car.
As much as potential and current Uber and Lyft drivers may benefit from a flexible rental program from Hertz, the car rental company could benefit from the arrangement in more ways than extra revenue from aging rental fleet vehicles. Hertz CEO John Tague joined the company in 2014 to increase revenue and “generate buzz.” Working with Uber and Lyft is a way for Hertz to enter the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) market through ridesharing without new capital expense. Toyota and General Motors have invested directly in Uber and Lyft, respectively, to get involved with ridesharing, but Hertz may be able to enter the same space without investing in either company and without needing to buy new cars.
