Skift Global Forum Preview: Avis Tackles Digital Innovation Through Partnerships
Photo Credit: An Avis customer uses the Avis app. The company has been investing heavily in digital technology. Avis Budget Group
Skift Take
Doing just traditional car rental isn't going to cut it anymore, and Avis is rapidly expanding its alternative services.
One of the biggest challenges for car rental companies in the age of the smartphone is the expansion of ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Both business and leisure travelers are increasingly opting to use the apps to get around, instead of the traditional method of renting a car.
[caption id="attachment_353750" align="alignright" width="214"] Avis Chief Innovation Officer Arthur Orduña. Photo: Avis[/caption]
As one of the largest car rental companies in the U.S. by market share, Avis has often struggled to react to this constantly changing mobility landscape. In recent years, the car group has focused on strategic partnerships: In August of last year, it announced a partnership with Lyft, and just this week, it revealed it had partnered with Uber. These business decisions give the company a way to leverage its huge number of vehicles, renting them out to rideshare companies when they no longer meet the higher standards of its core fleet.
But this is only part of the w
