TULSA, Okla., June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: DTG) today announced the sale of the Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental franchises in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the sale of the Thrifty Car Rental franchise in Omaha, Nebraska - including in-terminal airport operations at the McGhee Tyson Airport (Knoxville) and Eppley Airfield (Omaha) - converting both to franchise operations from corporate stores, effective immediately.

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'We have had a few franchisees who have expressed an interest in purchasing the franchise rights to some of the smaller airport markets, while at the same time we are focused on proper allocation of our capital resources,' said Scott Thompson, President and CEO. 'We expect, from time to time, that we may selectively identify a few smaller markets that could operate better with an owner-operator, while at the same time, Dollar Thrifty is provided with a much better return on its capital. I don't expect the volume of these transactions to be material, but it does demonstrate some of the flexibility of our business model.'

The sale of the Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport franchise is to longtime franchisee Jeffrey Schoepfel of GSP Transportation, Inc. Schoepfel has a long and successful history with DTG, having been a licensee since 1993. He currently owns Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental franchises in Greenville/Spartanburg, Charleston, Columbia, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, SC, as well as in Augusta, GA; he also owns the Thrifty franchise in Savannah, GA.

In Omaha, the sale includes airport operations at Eppley Airfield. Auto Rental Services, LLC, owned by franchisees Vergil and Karen Flodman and Trent and Molly Flodman, also owns the Dollar Rent A Car franchise at the Omaha airport and in Lincoln, NE. The Flodmans have been Dollar licensees since Feb.