Hertz CEO Resigns After EV Purchase Push Backfires Big Time

With effect from March 31, the CEO of Hertz Global Holdings Inc., one of the top four automobile rental firms worldwide, will resign from both his role as CEO and his membership on the board of directors. On Friday, March 15, the corporation made the announcement. Mr. Scherr has only been in charge for two years. The announcement follows Hertz’s decision to change its bet on electric cars. For background, Hertz stated in January 2024 that it was nearly halving its fleet of cars, disposing of over 20,000 electric cars as part of a “strategic decision.” Problems with the tens of thousands of EVs it had bought for its rental fleet—roughly 60,000 in total—were the reason behind that decision. “The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs,” Hertz stated in an explanation of the decision. This will put the business in a position to cut down on the amount of lower-margin rentals it has and lessen the cost of damage related to EVs. “Collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle,” said CEO Scherr. That was a significant change because, only a few months before to announcing the sale of a large portion of its EV fleet, Hertz had received accolades from the Biden Administration for promoting the adoption of EVs. Hertz commented, “This morning, [Hertz] was recognized by The White House for our efforts to expand access to electric vehicles across,” in a post regarding Team Biden’s commendation on X.