Zipcar, the hipster car-share company will soon become part of Avis.
In a deal valued at over $490 million the merger means more weekend inventory for Zipcar, and fewer idle units for Avis. Reminds me of the lawn mower store that started selling snowmobiles. What else does a lawn mower store do in the winter?
Since its founding in 2000 Zipcar has offered short term car rentals. Concentrating on college towns and large cities the company has survived rivals, newcomers and wannabes (merging with Flexcar, its largest competitor, in 2007). Currently more than 760,000 members make Zipcar the largest car sharing network- now serving the US, Canada, Spain, Austria and the UK with more than 11,000 vehicles.