How it all started:

It was written in 1946, when former military pilot Warren Avis founded the first car rental company. The first rental was located at Willow Run Airport near Detroit, and in 1953 the first office was opened on the old continent. 1963 became the debut of one of the most famous advertising campaigns of all time, "We Try Harder". In 1972, real-time rentals are coming, AVIS is the first car rental company to use Wizard's reservation and software system. 20 years after the opening of the first European office, AVIS has become a rental leader in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, now operating in 172 countries around the world and offering more than 500,000 vehicles

Slovak story:

The story of AVIS in Slovakia has a very similar story to the American one. In the beginning, there was great courage, an effort to push through, and a constant passion to build a world-class rental service for the masses.

Our story starts in 1995. We had 45 older cars in a small local car rental.

At that time, only two international companies operated in Slovakia.

After getting the AVIS brand in the international tender, we started to work on our ranking under the largest car rental company. However, it was not easy, the first years were very difficult. Gradually, we changed the fleet of vehicles, and in particular it was difficult for customers to explain what AVIS is and what it represents. The truth is that until then it meant nothing in Slovakia.

In 1998 we became the largest car rental company in the country and in 2000 our fleet exceeded one hundred cars.

During the year 2000 we started to build our first offices in the Slovak Republic on the principle of franchise contracts. At that time, there was very little legal awareness in Slovakia and a subsequent understanding of our partners on how to work within the franchise.

We were forced to close some branches, but already around 2003 we started to operate as one of the first operational leasing under the brand AVIS Lease.

We started the year 2005 with a significant enrichment of our fleet with rental of vans and commercial vehicles. Our business began to flourish with the first low cost airlines to fly to Slovakia. In 2006 we exceeded 5,000 rents a year and ranked among the best. The number of cars in the car rental exceeded 300 and we were among the largest car buyers in the country.

At the end of 2007 and early 2008 we completed the second series of opening of new branches all over Slovakia. Altogether there were eight at that time and we were a pioneer with branches throughout the Republic.

The demand for rent was broad-spectrum: private individuals, companies, short and long-term rents, new factories sent employees abroad for business trips, even people went to rent cars just for fun. Frequent tenants were people who, before buying their own car, came to borrow the vehicle to us to test it.   Our basic rule from the beginning was to rent the latest car news.   We have become a car rental for all, accessible to all categories of people without distinction.

AVIS Slovakia history in chronology

1996 - Rent a car founded AVIS Slovakia with a fleet of 25 cars

1997 - recruitment of first employees, purchase of new cars, introduction of up to 12 categories, the widest offer in the country.

1998 - Leasing establishment of operational leasing as the No. 2 subdivision (in 2003 it became independent in a separate legal structure) AVIS became the largest car rental company in the country

2000 - monthly rent exceeded 100

2001 - Rent a Car sublicence signing of first 4 sublicence contracts, opening of branches in Nitra, Banská Bystrica, Poprad, and Košice.

2002 - Van Rental foundation of No. 3 AVIS sub-division in the country, rental of commercial vehicles

2004 - Slovakia became a member of the EU, implementation of the international car rental system AVIS Wizard

2005 - AVIS is the only company on the market offering up to 16 categories

2006 - Opening of 15 car rental offices throughout the Slovak Republic

2007 - The total fleet exceeded 725 cars

2010 - change of company structure to a new model of complex integrated vertical structure under the single name United Group operating car rental services

2013 - the total number of representations reached 22. AVIS Slovensko achieved the Superbrands award for the first time (The first year when Superbrands started to operate in Slovakia).

2014 - AVIS wins Superbrands award 2nd year in a row.

2015 - The total number of categories reached 22 types of cars and up to 35 models, it is the largest offer in the country. The average age of cars reached 9 months. Establishment of Sub-Division No.5 under the name Avis Maxirent. AVIS won the Superbrands award for the third consecutive year. In the Commercial Vehicles division, the number of rents increased by 550%

2016 - Call center opening , AVIS is the first car rental center with a call center in the country. AVIS was awarded 4th year in a row. The fleet exceeded the magic limit of 1,000 cars in the fleet. In the Commercial Vehicles division, we offer refrigerated cars for the first time in history. AVIS was awarded 4th year in a row. Opening of 11 commercial vehicle rental offices. For the first time in history, we have established a loyal marketing plan called AVIS Ambassador Maxirent. The total share of the purchase of AVIS vs market exceeded 1.6%. The total number of rents per year exceeded 12,000.

2017 - Intelligent Customer Questionnaire - AVIS is the first car rental company to launch a customer questionnaire to improve the quality of services provided. AVIS Maxirent supplemented with a new service for high-end customers called AVIS Super Maxirent. The Group's total fleet exceeded 1,300 cars.

2018   -Integration of more than 100 MB of Sprinters into the fleet with an automatic transmission for long journeys

2019   - The AVIS Group's rentals exceeded 15,000 and the fleet reached 1,500 cars, having won Superbrands 7 times in a row.

2020 - the youngest fleet with the lowest CO2 emissions in the country (105g / km), the most modern equipped cars

• 60% low-emission petrol vehicles,
• 15% diesel cars with adblue technology
• 20% of hybrids,
• 5% PHEV