PARK RIDGE, NJ - The Hertz Corporation, parent company of fleet leasing and management company Donlen, has announced that Gary Rappeport, Donlen’s CEO, will be retiring at the end of 2012. Hertz stated that Rappeport will be succeeded by Donlen's current President and COO, Tom Callahan, on January 1, 2013. Callahan will become vice president, Hertz, and president of Donlen, and he will report directly to Hertz Chairman and CEO Mark P. Frissora.

“During the merger process last year, Gary indicated that he wanted to stay on board to ensure a smooth transition and to launch several new initiatives leveraging the respective strengths of Hertz and Donlen before retiring,” Frissora said. “Integration is 100 percent on track, and already we have launched several new products and services made possible by our merger. Gary served Donlen, a highly successful company his father started in 1965, for 27 years, the last 15 as CEO, having developed a culture and management team that will take Donlen to new heights.”

“Tom Callahan has been appointed Donlen's President after an extensive internal and external search conducted over the past several months,” Frissora added. “Tom has been with Donlen for seven years and has brought invaluable perspective and focus to Donlen. For example, he led efforts to implement new ways to measure and improve the company's approach to customer relationships, resulting in unprecedented year-over-year customer satisfaction and retention results. We look forward to the Donlen and Hertz teams implementing many of Tom's ideas to accelerate Donlen's growth.”