Avis Budget Group and Ford join to connect cars

To make car rental even easier for customers and improve efficiency, Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) today announces an agreement with Ford Commercial Solutions to connect more than 35,000 Ford Motor Company vehicles in the American fleet of Avis Budget Group.

The connected vehicles allow Avis customers to manage their entire rental experience through the Avis mobile application, including the choice of the type of vehicle they wish to rent and the duration of their rental. Even the return of a rental vehicle is automated with the technology connected, allowing customers to leave their vehicles through a simple tap on the Avis application.

In addition, these connected Ford vehicles will provide valuable real-time telemetry data, including odometer, fuel level and vehicle status updates, which will allow Avis Budget Group fleet managers to process the information they need to prepare vehicles. more quickly for customers.

Ford Commercial Solutions offers an integrated telematics solution called Ford Data Services, which offers a simplified and efficient way for Avis Budget Group to connect vehicles, reducing typical downtime and device management efforts that are currently required. It is expected that more than 10,000 Ford vehicles in the Avis Budget Group fleet will be connected by the end of 2018, and more than 35,000 by the summer of 2019.

"With more than 100,000 vehicles connected to our Avis Budget Group fleet and growing, the relationship with Ford Commercial Solutions is a significant milestone in our commitment to achieve a fully connected fleet by 2020," said Arthur Orduña, innovation director, Avis Budget Group. . "It allows us to expand our connected ecosystem and work with an organization that shares our common goal of expanding the limits of connectivity and innovation as we move into a new era of mobility."

To connect its integrated telematics solution, Ford Commercial Solutions is using the Autonomic Transport Mobility Cloud (TMC), an open platform that securely manages the flow of information to and from the vehicle's integrated modems. Through this partnership, Ford Data Services leverages the built-in connectivity of Ford vehicles and transfers data directly from vehicles to the TMC without the need for additional third-party hardware, management or installation downtime. The data is then easily transmitted to the internal IT system or the telematics service of the fleet owner through the TMC, which gives companies easy access to valuable information that can improve their operations and the overall customer experience.

"Ford Data Services and the TMC make it possible to offer connectivity in real time through a fleet, which allows the collection of new data and perspectives. These ideas make day-to-day operations more efficient for our partners and their customers, "said Lee Jelenic, CEO of Ford Commercial Solutions. "We are pleased to work with Avis Budget Group, whose commitment to a fully connected fleet coincides with ours, as we deliver new vehicle connectivity to 100 percent in North America by the end of 2019".