Warren Edward Avis, born on August 4, 1915 and died on April 24, 2007, was an American entrepreneur who founded Avis Car Rentals in 1946. Born in Bay City, Michigan, he served as a bombardier and captain in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and he got the idea for airport car rental when, as a pilot, he could not find ground transport at airports. Although he did not technically invent the rental car business, he ensured its future by locating his offices at airports rather than downtown, opening Avis Rent A Car at Willow Run Airport in Michigan and at Miami International Airport. He sold the company in 1954 for eight million dollars and was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2000.
Facts
FAQs
Why did Warren Avis put car rental at airports?
He expected air travel to overtake rail travel.
Avis founded his rental company in 1946, and a history of the company says that as the owner of an automobile dealership in Detroit he had the idea of providing car-rental services at airports, expecting that air travel would quickly become more popular than travel by rail. The same account says he opened his first locations at Willow Run Airport near Detroit and at Miami airport in Florida.
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Source Warren Avis (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph [nationality]Quote, Lead paragraph [nationality]
was an American entrepreneur
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1. Warren Avis (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph
August 4, 1915
Lead paragraph [death-year]
April 24, 2007
Lead paragraph [nationality]
was an American entrepreneur
In Group: Industrialists and Transport Entrepreneurs, Lead sentence
Warren Edward Avis (August 4, 1915, April 24, 2007) was an American entrepreneur who founded Avis Car Rentals in 1946.
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