Posted on 03/19/2024 9:21:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As John Adams said:
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
Now, if Stephen Scherr had taken Adams’s observation into consideration, he might still have a job. (However, no sympathy from me; he’ll be employed in no time at all, making more bad decisions that inevitably cost me money, in one way or another.) From a report at the New York Post this afternoon:
Hertz, one of the four largest car rental companies in the world, is replacing its CEO after the company reversed its bet on electric vehicle rentals over increasing costs.
Stephen Scherr will step down as Hertz Global Holdings Inc.’s chief executive officer and member of the company’s Board of Directors effective March 31, the company announced Friday.
…
Scherr’s resignation comes as the car rental company struggles with the higher repair costs and low demand for EV rentals.
I’ve previously written on Hertz’s battery-powered car flops—first in November, when Hertz had to admit it wasn’t even close to meeting its goal of an expansive E.V. fleet because the cars were way too expensive with too many liabilities; then in January of this year, when the company announced it was reneging on its promise altogether, and selling off around half(?) of the E.V.s the company still had.
To bring this back to Adams’s wisdom, the stubborn facts of E.V.s remain—and the idea that a car rental company would transition a major portion of its fleet to E.V.s… is one of the dumbest and most asinine corporate decisions I’ve ever heard.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
E.V.s are extremely expensive to fix. Why would a car rental company, that rents to drivers who are almost guaranteed to be inexperienced with E.V.s, highly likely to be unfamiliar with the area which they’re about to navigate, and also less concerned with the car because it’s still just a rental, ever think this would be a wise decision? I mean, if we’re shooting from the hip and gambling hundreds of millions on a bluff, why not just buy a fleet of Lamborghinis instead?
Did this CEO ever even think of the marketing implications of converting large swaths of his vehicles to electric today?
for people who are probably traveling away from home and likely don’t know their way around, the idea that they could easily and conveniently “fill up” is of course, absurd. Also, if people are returning a vehicle and trying to catch a flight, how are they supposed to plan in a lengthy charge, assuming the charging station is actually functioning?
Bribes have consequences.
Hertz. Isn’t this the company that just pulled out of Chapter 11 in 2021?
What a cluster failure.
Battery powered EV’s are dead as a door nail.
Anyone who thought they were a good idea as general transportation needs to be looked at with deep suspicion.
“Meanwhile, in that same period mr scherr took home a cool 182 MILLION, almost exactly 75% of what Hertz’s 245 Million dollar loss on his stooopid EV gamble was, over the same period.
Genius!”
Who negotiated that deal?
Electric Golf Carts seemed to work well.
Hertz payed out 168 million in 2022 over falsely accusing customers of stealing cars. You can find articles in 2023 indicating they were still engaging in the practice.
When I am in an unfamiliar city or location, it is stressful enough just figuring out the traffic patterns and how to get around. Last thing I want to do is add to that stress by worrying about where I am going to find EV chargers.
Just a stupid idea.
This is what many CEO's do. Both for their own financial and reputation benefit, they feel the need to follow the political fashion, and bet big.
Would a CEO get feted on CNBC or gets $tens of millions in bonuses for saying: "I'm not sure about this EV trend, its very expensive for us, and customers don't want them. Rather My goal is to be sure I don't bankrupt the company, and grow our share 2% points in what is a very mature market."
They would never get the job
Therefore, everyone should blame the Board and Corporate Governance
Impulse buying , oh my
Golden parachute. He will be fine.
If I were the CEO of Hertz, I would start off with a small fleet of EVs, maybe 5 or 10 at selected branches and SEE HOW THEY WERE RECEIVED.
If that went OK, I would get some more, maybe 50 at some more branches.
Then ...
I would NOT have gone hog wild and bought a sh!tload of the damn things right off the bat.
But what do I know, I didn’t go to Harvard, Yale or one of those big Ivy League schools where every graduate has all the right answers?
Turns out EV’s also pollute more...
Oh I’m sure he’s not relegated to sleeping under an overpass. 😏
I rented in NYC airport from hertz. When I go to NY it’s NJ shore, Connecticut shore. North shore of LI visiting fam. A NYC trip too
I’m going to be dependent of plugging in a glorified golf cart? Em… no.
At half price? Nope.
Disgraced and loaded.
The goal is not to Dave the planet.
The goal is not to SAVE the planet.
On the positive side, those people who would like to try out an EV can probably pick one up from Hertz for half the cost at least, and maybe still qualify for the EV tax credit
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