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Avis snaps up Zipcar

The Boston Business Journal reports Avis Budget will pay $500 million for the locally based car-sharing service.The move will let Zipcar users rent Budget cars on the weekends.

Some local Zipcar fans were not pleased this morning. Lalunkee tweets:

I expect that this will ruin a wonderful thing. Crap.

Nathan Spencer adds:

I saw what Avis did to Budget and I worry this will be a reversal of what Zipcar was founded upon. Also, not for nothing, this is another example of a good Boston-based company moving up and out.

Although the companies say Zipcar will keep its local headquarters - and will still move them from Cambridge to South Boston, Spencer is not convinced that means much:

Oh, right, just like Gillette. It's not Avis' fault. Boston needs to find ways to keep successful companies here.

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Comments

Pretty disappointed to see this crawl across the ticker this morning. I also fully expect to see mid-level Avis management with nothing to do but justify their own position come in ruin everything that's great about Zipcar through cost-containment, workforce realighment, and revenue-enhancement methods. In other words, delivering cheaper product, with less support/maintenance, at higher cost.

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...to stop my intended membership.

They'd recently expanded to include more cars available near my workplace *and* residence. I was going to join within the next month, when I anticipate possibly needing to use a zipcar.

Oh well. Congrats to the entrepreneurs for cashing in.

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