Hertz has scored many "firsts" in the car rental industry. Here are some of the most notable Hertz firsts:

1925 First coast-to-coast network

1926 First car rental charge card

1932 First airport rent-a-car location at Chicago's Midway Airport

1933 First 'Rent-it-Here/Leave-it-There' (one-way) programme

1950 First European location (France)

1959 First centralised billing system

1962 First booking system for travel agents

1972 First club for frequent travellers, #1 Club®

1978 First nationwide emergency road service

1980 First 'express' service

1984 First Computerised Driving Directions

1988 First in-car mobile phones

1989 First launched Hertz #1 Club Gold®

1995 First introduced on-board navigation system, NeverLost®

1996 First launched web site

1998 First launched Hertz Return Centres

1999 First launched multilingual web site
First launched Euro conversion web site
Celebrates 10th Anniversary of #1 Club Gold Service
First deployed 40,000 “Next Generation” NeverLost units



2000 Introduced #1 Club Gold Five Star and President’s Circle membership levels



2001 First launched the Hertz Prestige Collection in North America



2002 First global car rental company to operate in China

Introduced SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the United States

Introduced the Hertz Prestige Collection in Europe


2004 Introduced brand and model reservability to #1 Club and #1 Club Gold members in the United States



2005 First launched the Hertz Fun Collection in North America

Introduced NeverLost into Europe



2006 Debuted the Shelby GT-H, a special run of 500 performance-modified Ford Mustang GTs,

in the U.S. Fun Collection.

First launched the Hertz Green Collection in North America and Europe.