Ford signs 3-year deal to sell vehicles Dollar Thrifty rental group

Bob Nardelli isn’t going to be too happy about this one. FoMoCo has just signed a 3-year deal with Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. to sell vehicles to the rental company which mostly has a Chrysler fleet. Dollar Thrifty has a contract with Chrysler which requires it to buy at least three-fourths of its fleet from Chrysler – a deal which ends after the Chrysler 2011 model year.

Neither side disclosed the number of vehicles Ford will end up selling to Dollar Thrifty, but said that this is the first long-term agreement between the two companies.

According to Ford spokesman Todd Nissen who spoke with Automotive News, Ford will start selling its current models to the rental company and will continue through August 2012. Nissen said that the move will help boost Ford’s car rental sales which fell 90 percent last month. Chrysler reported an 81 percent drop in rental fleet sales in January.

Dollar Thrifty has more than 800 Dollar-Rent-A-Car and Thrifty Car Rental stores in the U.S. and Canada.