Guthries buys Pegasus car rental

Owner John Sherman (left), manager Allan Peters (middle), and other owner Paul Rod (right) outside Pegasus Rental Cars in Whanganui. PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO

With new owners and a partnered business, Pegasus Rental Cars (PRC) could be a gap filler in Whanganui after the departure of Avis and Budget last week.

John Sherman and Paul Rod, co-owners of Gutheries Auto Care, bought PRC in August last year with a plan to grow business through two complimented networks.

Mr Sherman said he likes everything cars and when the opportunity arose to buy a car rental company there was no looking back.

"We had been thinking about buying a car rental business for a while and I just happened to get talking to a guy who said Pegasus Rental Cars in Whanganui was for sale....it all just fell into place from there," Mr Sherman said.

Mr Sherman said the former owner of PRC, Paul Gordon, was selling simply because he was heading into retirement.

PRC will operate under the management of Allan Peters and Mr Rod said they will pull staff from Gutheries as need be.

"We have eight employees, including one apprentice...so if Pegasus gets really busy, like with the WashN'Vac service we do, we can send some of the staff over to help," Mr Rod said.

Mr Sherman said their strong customer base at Gutheries has been really helpful for building business at Pegasus.

"Just last week we had two separate customers come in for repairs and both booked in to hire a car straight after. We get a lot of local repeats which is great," Mr Sherman said.

The business partners said the purchase of Pegasus Rental Cars was a long-term venture.