Thrifty celebrates 20 years of success in the UAE

Since its inception in 1989 through local company A.A. Al Moosa Enterprises, Thrifty Car Rental has rapidly expanded the number of locations and fleet in the UAE. Today, Thrifty boasts one of the biggest networks within the UAE: 30 full-service Thrifty outlets operate across the country, including major shopping malls, and a recent significant addition at Dubai Airport Terminal 3. Thrifty UAE has the largest fleet size among car rental companies in the country, which is 50% more than its nearest competitor.

"Our success over the past two decades is greatly attributed to our belief in our management policies and the quality of service we offer. Over the years, we have built on the necessary experience and expertise to stay abreast of current market conditions, analyze opportunities, and capitalize on them, which has helped us to achieve a dominant position as a market leader in the country."

said Rahul Singh, General Manager, Thrifty Car Rental, UAE.

"We acquire the right cars in terms of customer desires, reliability, low -maintenance, and high on resale value. We believe in exceeding the expectations of our customers and investors, stressing not only growth, but profitable growth which generates high returns to our shareholders," continued Singh.

In terms of fleet size, Thrifty UAE is the largest franchise of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. outside of North America. Thrifty UAE was awarded "Global Franchise of the Year" in 2005 at the annual DTG world wide convention in Las Vegas, beating DTG franchises across Europe, Asia, Americas and the Middle East. In 2007, DTG awarded Thrifty UAE "Regional Franchisee of the Year" for the MENA region. Commenting on this, Singh added, "We have been growing consistently ever since we commenced our operations in the UAE. However, as is the case with most businesses, we have grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years, where our average year-on-year growth has been more than 30%."

Despite the current global economic environment, which hit the country in the last quarter of 2008, Thrifty Car Rental is still continuing to expand. Thrifty opened an outlet in Jumeirah Beach Residence earlier this year, and plans are in place to launch two more strategically-located outlets by the end of this year. "We continue to invest in the UAE, as we believe that the fundamentals of the UAE economy are sound, and companies able to ride this storm will emerge stronger than ever once the recession is behind us," continued Singh.

To celebrate two decades in the country, Thrifty Car Rental will be offering a 50% discount on all daily and weekly rentals in the UAE for individual hirers until September 15, 2009.