Right Cars to Open in Fort Lauderdale

To continue its U.S. expansion, U.K.-based Right Cars plans to open a franchise location at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in October.

Right Cars will officially launch its franchise location at Miami International Airport on Sept. 6. During the Miami opening, the Right Cars executive team will be meeting potential franchisees.

The company is also planning franchised branch openings serving Dallas International Airport and San Antonio Airport as well as San Diego and San Francisco by the end of the year, said Rick Little, Right Cars co-founder and chairman.

"Because of the huge success we are seeing in Miami, we have been able to bring forward the planned opening of our branch in Fort Lauderdale,” said Little. “I would like to thank Mauricio, director of Right Cars Florida, for the incredible amount of effort he has put in to the expansion of Right Cars in the U.S.”

Right Cars was founded from a family-owned car rental business that operated at London’s Gatwick Airport for 18 years. “My customer database grew quickly through strong customer service and word of mouth,” said Karl Taylor, co-founder and managing director of Right Cars. “And then we had people asking us if we rent cars in Cyprus.”

“I rented cars from Karl,” said Little, who retired as an IT consultant for the banking and travel industry and then wrote software for Taylor’s company. “He told me that his large base of regular customers was slowly diminishing. As a small car rental company, he didn’t have the technology or the funds to invest in the major travel networks. We realized there must be small, family-run car rental businesses around the world in the same situation as Karl.”

The brand commenced franchising in 2012. Today, the company has franchise partners running 140 locations in 23 countries, from Croatia, Iceland, and New Zealand, to Mexico, Morocco, and United Arab Emirates. India is next, and the company is talking to Chinese partners, Little said.

For franchises, Right Cars is targeting smaller rental companies “who don’t have a high advertising budget and don’t have the IT skills,” Little said.

The Fort Lauderdale location is starting to take reservations now before its official opening date on Oct. 18, according to the company.