Editor's Notebook
Could Big Corporation Muscle In On Local Nonprofit?
Avis rental car company buy HOURCAR rival Zipcar.
Wednesday, a major car rental company announced it was buying the Zipcar car-sharing service. Zipcar serves dozens of metro areas across the country, including Minneapolis, where it competes with local nonprofit HOURCAR. But could this deal threaten HOURCAR with well-funded corporate competition? Analysts say the Avis Budget Group is trying to muscle in on what's turning out to be the next big thing in car rentals. "Avis, of course, thinks it’s worth $491 million to enter this market by buying the largest upstart rather than having to build such a business itself," writes Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein. Zipcar was bullish about the deal in its announcement: Simply put, this is a major win for Zipsters around the world. With…
