John Tague assumed the reins of Hertz Global Holdings as President and Chief Executive Officer eight months ago. During that time, he has seen the challenges to be overcome, but also the great brand value Hertz possesses. Seizing on customer experience as a differentiator, along with operational excellence, has him brimming with confidence for the future.
“When I joined Hertz last November, I did so with the belief that while the company faced significant challenges, enormous value remained to be realized, given the strength of our brands, our people, and the loyalty of our customers,” Tague said during the Hertz Global Holdings Financial Restatement Conference Call on July 17, according to Seeking Alpha. “Since that time, I’ve witnessed firsthand how dedicated Hertz employees are to turning the Company’s operations around and becoming the best rental car company in the world. This dedication has reinforced my confidence in Hertz and the substantial opportunities that lie ahead. Clearly, the results over the last 18 months demonstrate that we have a lot of work to do to get there.”
Where, specifically, is the opportunity?
“Well, frankly, where isn’t it,” Tague added. “We see opportunity everywhere in the cost structure. We see opportunity in the customer experience and we know that our revenue execution and how we go-to-market can be vastly improved. Importantly, we believe the processes that support the work are sustainable. While the number of material weaknesses is significant, remediation work is well underway with considerable progress expected still this year. We have substantially rebuilt the senior leadership team with best-in-class talent across the company. Our fleet renewal is very close to completion and the execution has been exceptional. We brought our capacity in line with our demand and have further adjusted the plans to reflect utilization improvements.”
What does the future hold?
“We need to reset the ambition having built the foundation,” Tague explained. “We start by focusing on the core, simply renting cars better than everyone else. What does that mean? The highest customer satisfaction and the best financial performance. Some might say, we’re renting cars better than anyone else, doesn’t sound very ambitious, but in my view that would be wrong. Huge value can be created at Hertz on a foundation of operating excellence and execution. In pursuit of this fundamental objective, we will ensure that Hertz is positioned as an industry-leading premium brand and we will establish Dollar and Thrifty as industry-leading value brands. We are driving to deliver best-in-class unit cost, while realizing the highest revenue efficiency.”
Tague said he plans to be very transparent with his ongoing dialogue.
“From my experience, I know that input and feedback from the investment community gives us a perspective that simply makes us a better company,” he said.