Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is the former holding company of Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car. Dollar Thrifty Automotive began to operate as an independent car rental subsidiary of The Chrysler Corporation on November 4, 1997 while continuing to support its two brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental. It was acquired by The Hertz Corporation for $2.3 billion USD on November 19, 2012.

Established in 1990 by The Chrysler Corporation, Dollar Thrifty Automotive was part of Chrysler's Pentastar Transportation Group in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which also included General Rent-A-Car and Snappy Car Rental. Chrysler first purchased Thrifty Rent A Car System, Inc. in 1989, and Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. in 1990 - forming Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. By 1997, Dollar Thrifty Automotive earned $843.94 million USD in sales, employed a staff of 5,200, and maintained a combined rental fleet of approximately 100,000 vehicles.

Chrysler announced that Dollar Thrifty Automotive filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to offer its common stock in November 1997. On December 23, 1997 Dollar Thrifty Automotive completed its initial public offering on the and was traded as DTG. Before the Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car brands acted as their own subsidiaries under Dollar Thrifty Automotive in December 2002, Dollar Thrifty Automotive operated as one car rental group to reduce expenses. By 2003, the Dollar and Thrifty brands operated in over 70 countries around the world, including approximately 800 corporate and franchised locations in the United States and Canada.

From 1990 to 2009, Dollar Thrifty Automotive primarily rented Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles to customers within the United States. Some locations featured Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota models as well. In October 2009, it was announced the company would move away from use of Chrysler Group vehicles with hope to better diversity their rental fleet. It was announced the fleet would now include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Chrysler, and other vehicles. This fleet expansion helped Dollar Thrifty shares on the New York Stock Exchange rise to a 52-week high of $27.50 before closing at $26.33 - up 0.57 percent.