Avis's (CAR) Zipcar Expands 'Floating' Car Service In London

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) announced that its subsidiary Zipcar, will now provide ‘floating’ car sharing services across the eight London boroughs of Wandsworth, Islington, Hackney, Lewisham, Lambeth, Waltham Forest, Southwark and Merton.

Those interested in availing the service can simply pick up a car from the ‘Zipzone’, an area spanning over 235 square kilometres across North and South London. On completion of the trip, the car can be left at any of the spaces in the Zipzone.

Zipcar’s car sharing facilities are provided at the nominal rate of 29 pence per minute making it one of the cheapest and convenient modes of transport in London. Passengers are given multiple options – whether to spontaneously take a one-way journey with the Zipcar Flex or plan a much longer trip with the Zipcar Roundtrip.

Given the convenience and cost-effective nature of this `floating` car sharing service, Londoners are switching from owning private cars to car-sharing in a bid to make smarter transport decisions. As opposed to using black cabs and ride-hailing companies, Zipcars can be used for the exact time that the user requires it, making the journey time efficient and improving the environment simultaneously.

With various cities across the globe battling severe pollution issues like smog and higher than acceptable levels of particulate matter, Zipcar seems to be a right step towards tackling London’s growing issues of air pollution and traffic congestion. About 3.5 million Londoners can now avail this leading car-sharing service.

Zipcar already has significant presence across Europe, Asia and North America. Avis Budget, the parent firm of Zipcar, intends to expand the availability of the service across more regions in the near future. At the same time, Avis Budget intends to aggressively increase the number of company-operated locations in fast-growing markets. The company is particularly focused on expanding its Budget brand, taking its multi-brand strategy to the next level.

Shares of Avis Budget have outperformed the industry in the last three months with an average return of 11.8% against a decline of 3.7% for the latter.

Avis Budget currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in the industry include WageWorks, Inc. (NYSE:WAGE) and Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSII) carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

WageWorks has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15%. It has exceeded estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 7.3%.

Kelly Services has also exceeded estimates four times in the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 66%.

Heidrick & Struggles has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15%.

Wall Street’s Next Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Zacks EVP Kevin Matras believes this familiar stock has only just begun its climb to become one of the greatest investments of all time. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in pure genius.

Click for details >>