The newly created vehicle rental business, Al Jomaih Auto Rental (Ajar), will open a network of branches at major airport, city and community locations in Saudi Arabia throughout 2015.

The company, which will operate the Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car and Ajar brands, also intends to sub franchise across the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar) and the Levant region (Jordan and Lebanon).

The Al Jomaih Group, which was founded in 1936 and has more than 7,000 employees, is a highly diversified business that is recognised as a leader in many consumer, commercial and industrial sectors in Saudi Arabia. Its subsidiary, Al Jomaih Automotive, is the largest General Motors dealer in the Middle East.

Ibrahim M Abdulaziz Al Jomaih, CEO of the Al Jomaih Group, said: “There is tremendous potential in bringing together the strengths and commitment of the world’s largest car hire company, Enterprise, with one of the largest and most successful businesses in Saudi Arabia. 

“As in other parts of the world, demand for flexible car hire is growing quickly in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Levant. Working with Enterprise, we aim to become the best provider in our region for customer satisfaction and performance.”

Peter A Smith, vice president of global franchising at Enterprise Holdings, added: “This is a very significant agreement for Enterprise Holdings. From a strategic perspective, it’s an important region that will form a key part of our global network. Therefore, it was critical that we found the right company to partner with. This is especially critical in a fast-growing market such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Levant, where it was vital that we found a partner that had a proven track record for outstanding customer care, as well as an appetite for growth.”

Globally, Enterprise Holdings is operational in more than 70 countries and territories.

Enterprise added that it will become operational in additional countries throughout Europe and the Middle East in the coming months.