No. 1

Following the lead of its U.S. licenser, Avis Transport of Canada Ltd. still needles Hertz with its "We try harder" buttons. Avis in Canada tries so hard, in fact, that it can no longer continue its underdog promotion and bill itself as No. 2 in the auto-rental business. With gross revenues of over $17 million in 1967, Avis is now No. 1 in Canada.

Credit goes to former Air Canada Sales Promotion Manager Lawrence J. Adams, 50, who took the reins of the company in 1958, when it had a single rental location--which was losing money. Within four months, Adams had picked up $2,000,000 worth of property across Canada to build a network of parking lots, rental depots and garages. By 1962, the company was breaking even. In 1963 it bought an Edmonton real estate firm that became a subsidiary called Avord Holdings Ltd. Since then, Avord has built hotels and office and apartment buildings in Canada's major cities. Last fall Avis took over the garage in Montreal's Dominion Square building. One of its tenants--Hertz.

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