Avis was founded in 1946 as the first company to rent cars from airport locations. Within seven years it had become the second largest rent-a-car company in the United States.

It is one of the world's top brands for customer loyalty, ranked as the number-one car rental company in the Brand Keys® Customer Loyalty Index for the past eight years.

The company is part of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAR). Avis Budget Group has marketing agreements with Avis Europe Plc, a separately owned UK-based company owning or franchising an additional 2,900 Avis locations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.