Affordable Car Hire announces rebrand after Avis Budget settlement

The firm marked its 15th birthday with a rebrand and the launch of new motorhome product after reaching an out-of-court settlement with Avis Budget in November.

Avis sued Affordable Car Hire in January 2017 for $2.2 million over non-payment. Months later, Affordable launched a $15 million counter-claim.

Chief executive and founder Day said the rebrand, which coincides with Affordable’s 15th year trading, signalled a “positive start to 2019” and would “allow Affordable to move forward with business”.

“This is the first time in a long while we can look forward to an exciting future without the threat of a lawsuit hanging over us,” said Day.

Affordable’s new logo features a five-pointed star-shaped A icon, while the company’s new strapping reads: “Rentals Made Simple”.

According to Affordable, the new star icon reflects both its fee core products – car, motorbike and motorhome hire, airport parking and lounges; and its five core strengths – affordability, trust, service, quality and flexibility.

A new live booking platform, said Day, would allow the business to sell motorhomes as well as its existing product. She also revealed Affordable’s website enhancements would make it faster and allow it to display more product and extras.

“The current platform needed to be enhanced so that we could display more stock,” she said. “We believe we are the only car hire company to be offering a live booking engine for motorhomes, and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved."

Affordable’s new motorhome product, Affordable Motorhome Rentals, will have its own black and gold star logo and offer commissionable rentals for travel agents in 30,000 locations across 150 countries including the UK, US, Canada, Japan and Australasia, all through the new online booking engine.