Mitsubishi to Buy U.S. Car Rental Company

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America announced Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Value Rent-A-Car Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Mitsubishi said control of the Deerfield, Fla.-based rental car firm, which operates 25 rental outlets in six states, would provide added exposure for Mitsubishi products and a good base of used cars for Mitsubishi’s 416 U.S. dealers.

The sale, scheduled to be completed by May 31, calls for Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motor Sales to acquire more than 50% of Value’s stock and all of the company’s real estate holdings. Most of Value’s operations are in Florida, but the company also has facilities in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana and Nevada.

Mitsubishi Motor Sales, a bit player for most of the seven years it has been selling cars in the United States, has experienced a sales surge recently on the strength of a revamped product line. It has advanced to fourth place among Japanese car companies in this country.

The company imports cars and light trucks built by Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in Japan, and also sells vehicles produced by the Diamond Star Motors plant in Illinois, a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler Corp.

Fleet sales currently account for about 15% of Mitsubishi’s sales volume, which totaled 150,476 vehicles last year. That percentage will not change with the acquisition of Value, the company said. But the portion of Mitsubishi vehicles in the Value fleet will jump to 85% from 10% by year’s end.

Value specializes in rentals for vacation travelers, and Mitsubishi said that would provide better consumer exposure for its cars than a rental fleet oriented towards the short-term business traveler.

Mitsubishi said it had no immediate plans to expand Value geographically, though it would examine the California market for possible moves in the mid-1990s. Value’s management will be retained.