FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For information, contact:

Christy Conrad, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Jill Pace, Fleishman-Hillard

314.512.2706, 314.982.0592,

RENTAL CAR INDUSTRY EXPANSION INTO NEIGHBORHOODS

FUELS AND FILLS AMERICANS’ APPETITES

More consumers are renting to meet lifestyle and transportation needs, new survey says

ST. LOUIS, May 18, 2005 –Despite spending more time in traffic than ever before and all-time-high gas prices, more Americans are renting automobiles in their neighborhoods to meet a variety of lifestyle and transportation needs – a trend that is in the fast lane, according to results of a new national survey released today.

The 2005 “Poll of the American Driver”*shows that about onethird of drivers 25 years of age and older – or some 62 million Americans** – need an additional or different vehicle than their primary automobile and are more likely to rent a vehicle to meet that need.

Nearly half of survey respondents (46 percent) say they are more likely to rent an automobile for personal use if there is a rental car location near their neighborhood – a

20 percent increase from 1995. The rental car industry is meeting this trend via a steady expansion into neighborhoods.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largest rental car company in North America, uncovered the neighborhood trend and is leading the industrycharge, having more than doubled its U.S.neighborhood locations to 5,700 from 2,400 in the past 10 years. Enterprise has a neighborhood location within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population.

Cars rented in the local neighborhood market meet a variety of lifestyle needs, such as driving the kids’ sports team to their weekend games, hauling landscaping or home improvement materials, upgrading to a more reliable vehicle for a weekend getaway, or just simply adding a vehicle to the driveway for an out-of-town visitor.

The poll also revealed that a majority of Americans (54 percent) would prefer to rent vehicles than borrow them.

“The proliferation of rental car locations in neighborhoods has positioned renting to replace the concept of borrowing cars from family and friends,” said automotive pop culture expert Dr. Michael Marsden, who has studied and analyzed societal trends related to the automobile for decades. “With a location usually right around the corner, it’s very convenient and affordable to temporarily swap whatever vehicle you usually drive for a rental that meets a specific need.

“This evolution in the consumercar relationship is very logical,” added Marsden, dean and academic vice president at St.NorbertCollege in De Pere, Wis. “We always have needs for different automobiles; they are there during every important moment in our lives, beginning with the day we’re driven home from the hospital to the day we get married, among others. Now we have convenient access to the appropriate vehicle for all of our lifestyle needs.”

Enterprisecontinues to be best positioned to serve the trend, said Steve Short, vice president of consumer development.

“People first came to know Enterprise as the rental car company that provided replacement vehicles to customers when their cars were being serviced or repaired,” Short said. “In recent years, though, it became obvious that more and more customers were coming back to our neighborhood branches and renting cars for a variety of other personal reasons. A trend was born and we’ve been only too happy to meet the growing need with our extensive network of local offices.”

For the past several years,Enterprise has opened an average of one neighborhood location per day, making it easy, convenient, and affordable for consumers to enhance their driving experience and meet transportation and lifestyle needs.

“When you couple that growth with world-class customer service, including picking up and dropping off customers at their home or office, we’re confident that we will continue to grow this market,” Short said.

The Poll of the American Driver validates that consumers enjoy being behind the wheel as much as they did 10 years ago, with 84 percent of motorists saying they love or like driving – about equal to the 82 percent who had the same response in 1995 when the survey was first fielded.

* The Poll of the American Driver, an independent survey of 500 U.S. licensed drivers 25 years of age and older, was commissioned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The sampling error associated with the research is no more than plus or minus four percentage points.

** According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are approximately 170 million licensed drivers 25 years of age and older in the United States.

About Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the largest rental car company in North America. It operates more than 700,000 Rental and Fleet Services vehicles worldwide and has annual revenues of $7.4 billion. Last year, Enterprise opened more than 500 new locations,increasing its total locations to more than 6,000. Enterprise is currently number 16 on the Forbes “500 Largest Private Companies in America” list. For more information about Enterprise visit .

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