The rental car and car hire industry had its beginnings closely tied to Ford's introduction of the economical Model T in 1908. In 1916, a Nebraskan named Joe Saunders was supposedly the first person to start a rent-a-car, car hire business when he hire out his Model T to travelling salesmen. (Mr. Saunders' first car rental customer is said to have been a salesman needing transportation for a date with a local girl.) In September of 1918 in Chicago, Walter L. Jacobs, then only 22 years old, opened a car rental and car hire business. He began car hire and car rental with about a dozen Model T Fords, repairing the vehicles himself for the renting, and by 1923 his car rental and car hire business was generating $1 million in annual revenues. The Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, owned by John Hertz, acquired Jacobs' car rental and car hire business. General Motors then bought out Hertz's Yellow Truck Company in 1926. The car-rental business became known as the Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System. In these earliest years, rental car companies became associated with criminal activity, especially during Prohibition. Many renter believed that cars were often used by bootleggers, car hire for a bank robbers and car hire for prostitutes. After the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933, the industry was able to regain a respectable reputation, and the rental car and car hire business grew. In reaction to the growth of private ownership of automobiles, a number of railroads created Railway Extensions, Inc. In addition to car rental franchises, the group endeavoured to encourage car rentals use by allocating space for rental booths at railroad stations, car hire as well as subsidizing telegraph service for passengers to reserve cars at one station and pick them up at their destination. Of special interest is the fact that the railroads car rental, car hire paid for advertising for the car rental dealerships at their stations. Railway Extensions, Inc. geographically spanned stations from Chicago to New Orleans. East of Chicago, the Hertz-controlled America Drive-Ur-Self negotiated a less substantial package that did not include free telegraph service or advertising or space for rental booths at railroad stations. After the second World War, the car rental industry grew rapidly. This growth was linked closely with the boom in the airline industry. One of the most important rent-a-car steps in this growth was when Hertz developed the "fly-drive" car rental concept by opening franchises at airports in Atlanta and Milwaukee. Avis car rental, another company, which was started by an Army pilot, entered almost all of its operations from airports and aggressively car rental advertised services through the airlines themselves. The industry has been extremely competitive since the 1960s, when car hire price wars and the success of small name renting companies forced prices down. It is an industry still closely linked with airline transportation. In the 1970s and 1980s, rental car, car hire companies began selling off their older car hire vehicles, which led to companies such as Hertz lso becoming major used-car dealers. At this point, major car dealers automobile manufacturing companies began buying up many used car companies in an effort to ensure that these companies would primarily buy their cars from them. The rental car (car hire) industry took a hit when air travel slowed down after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, but has made a tremendous comeback in recent years. The increasing amount of car rental business done on the Internet means that it's now possible to book a rental car online, making it easier to rent a car than ever. As long as Americans need a car waiting for them...rental cars will be there.

1918-ban Chicagóban nyílt meg az első olyan "car hire" garázs, ahol vezető nélkül lehetett autókölcsönzést csinálni, napi 10 dollárért. A "car hire" autókölcsönzés során az első 100 mérföldért nem kellett külön fizetni. Az autókölcsönzés  vállalkozója, Walter L. Jacobs tulajdonos öt esztendő múlva az autókölcsönzésböl, már egymillió dolláros éves forgalommal számolt. 1923-ban John D. Hertz (Hertz Sándor, felvidéki származású üzletember), a chicagói Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Company tulajdonosa megvásárolta az "car hire"-t  autókölcsönzést. Az első európai "car hire" autókölcsönző, később világcéggé fejlődött. Az "car hire" autókölcsönző vállalkozás Marseille-ben indult Abonnement Automobile Rent-A-Car néven, Ezt az autókölcsönzőt 1951 óta Europcar-ként ismerjük. Azóta természetesen számtalan hasonló "car rental" autókölcsönzés, vállalat alakult és szűnt meg. Az autókölcsönzés üzletág méretére jellemző, hogy az ECATRA (European Car And Truck Rental Association) szervezetnek 7200 "car rental" autókölcsönzést tart nyilván, akik összesen kétmillió gépkocsit vásárolnak  évente "car rental" autókölcsönzés-hez, vagyis ők a kontinens autópiacának legjelentősebb vevői. "car rental" és autóbérlés 1960-as évektől indult be Budapesten. Kezdetben szigorú feltételekhez kötötték az "car hire" autókölcsönzést. Az autókölcsönzések csak x-es rendszámot használhattak. Az autókölcsönzés, "car rental" és az autóbérlés a rendszerváltást követően lett "könnyebb" az autókölcsönző társaságoknak. Ugyanakkor a "könnyebbség" azt is jelentette, hogy a utókölcsönzéssel foglalkozó társaságok száma jelentősen megnőtt. Jelenleg is túl sok az autókölcsönzéssel "car rental" foglalkozó társaság Budapesten. Az "car hire" autókölcsönzés társaságokat a nagy verseny mellett sújtják a magas adók, és a gépjármű fenntartás autókölcsönzésre nézve is igen magas költségei. Az autókölcsönzés és autóbérlés "car hire" bérleti díjai alacsonyak, az autókölcsönzések nehezen tudják kigazdálkodni a fennmaradásukhoz szükséges bevételeket. Az autókölcsönzés, és autóbérlés "car rental" nem profitábilis tevékenység manapság Budapesten és Magyarországon.