Hertz secures another 175,000 electric cars for its rental car fleet – this time the US automaker GM is delivering. Hertz had previously ordered a total of 165,000 electric cars from Tesla and Polestar.
After the positive conclusion of insolvency proceedings, the rental car provider Hertz has dedicated itself to expanding its electric car fleet – and is spending a lot of money to do so.
The order for 100,000 Tesla Model 3s worth 4.2 billion US dollars that was announced in October 2021 was the largest single deal in the electric car sector to date. Hertz then ordered 65,000 electric cars from Polestar.
The current deal between Hertz and GM tops both orders again – because the US car company is to deliver a total of 175,000 electric cars to the Sixt rival by 2027.
Deliveries are scheduled to start in early 2023 and will initially include the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Bolt EUV. Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox will follow later, as well as other electric cars from other GM brands, as reported by CNBC.
To be able to handle a large order of this magnitude, GM will continue to expand its production capacities for the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries in the coming years. By 2025, around one million electric cars should be able to roll off the production line in each of the GM factories in North America and China.
GM wants to win thousands of new customers
“Our collaboration with Hertz is a big step forward when it comes to reducing emissions and introducing electric vehicles. This should help attract thousands of new EV customers to GM,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.
In the past, market observers took the fact that e-car manufacturers like Tesla were selling their vehicles to Hertz in large numbers as a sign that electric cars were conquering the mass market. Accordingly, the price of Tesla shares exploded in October 2021 – albeit in a friendly environment.
Currently, although the stock markets are also quite battered, the shares of GM and Hertz are hardly moving despite the announcement. In addition, large discounts are often given for deals with such large volumes.
Financial volume unknown
So far, nothing has been announced about the financial volume of the Hertz-GM deal. The $4.2 billion for 100,000 Model 3s in the Tesla deal suggested that Hertz almost paid the list price at the time.
Meanwhile, it is known that Hertz wants to have a quarter of its rental car fleet electrified by the end of 2024. The Hertz fleet is said to have more than 250,000 vehicles worldwide.
