More business travellers taking to car-sharing

New York

IN March, William Petz departed from his usual routine of logging on to Travelocity or Orbitz to rent a car from Budget or Hertz while travelling on business.

A Facebook posting had caught his eye: It was for a rental company called Silvercar, which offered a single kind of car - an Audi A4. It came with GPS, Wi-Fi and satellite radio at no additional cost. Mr Petz was travelling to San Francisco from New York to open an office for his company, Quiet Events, which organises dance parties where participants use headphones. The occasion, he said, called for him to make a strong first impression - so why not the Audi?