Hertz is getting even more desperate to get rid of its rental Tesla cars as it reveals another offloading plan. The company is trying to cut its loss and move on from one of the biggest EV debacles.
When Hertz revealed it was buying 100,000 electric cars from Tesla, the latter company’s market cap soared to $1 trillion. However, the car rental company soon realized the unique issue of holding on to a large inventory of EVs. As Tesla continued to implement price cuts to attract more buyers, Hertz took a beating as its cars depreciated faster than expected, eating into its financials.
The EV deal, billed as historic, led to the ouster of the then-CEO Stephen Scherr. Hertz recorded a jump in depreciation by more than half a billion dollars in the first quarter of 2024.
Hertz’s initial plan was to see Tesla go for as low as $20,000. However, this was not enough to stanch the losses, making Hertz go in even harder. It has stated that it will add tens of thousands of Teslas to the chopping block. This will hopefully reduce per-unit depreciation to $300 monthly from a high of $600 reported in Q2 2025.
Hertz hopes to complete the fire sale by the end of 2025.
