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Ford to Buy All Hertz Public Shares

17 January 2001

Ford, Hertz Agree on Terms for Ford to Acquire Hertz Public Shares

    DEARBORN, Mich., AND PARK RIDGE, N.J., Jan. 16 Ford Motor
Company [NYSE: F] and The Hertz Corporation [NYSE: HRZ] announced today they
reached an agreement for Ford to acquire all the publicly held shares of
common stock of Hertz at a price of $35.50 per share.

    Ford currently owns about 81.5 percent of the outstanding shares of Hertz,
and public shareholders own the remaining 18.5 percent.

    "We're pleased to have reached this agreement with the Hertz special
committee and board.  As we had said, acquiring the minority interest of Hertz
reinforces our strategy of becoming the world's leading consumer company for
automotive products and services," said Henry Wallace, Ford Group Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer.

    The $35.50 per share price represents an increase of 18 percent over
Ford's original offer of $30 per share made in September 2000.  It is also a
premium of 46 percent over the pre-offer price of Hertz shares.

    The transaction will be structured as a cash tender offer for all of the
approximately 20 million outstanding public shares of Hertz.  Following
completion of the tender offer, Ford will acquire any remaining publicly held
shares of Hertz through a merger transaction.  The companies expect the
closing to occur no later than early second quarter 2001.

    J.P. Morgan is advising Ford Motor Company in the transaction, and Lazard
is advising the special committee of the Hertz board of directors.

    Investors and security holders are strongly advised to read the tender
offer statement and recommendation/solicitation statement regarding the tender
offer referred to in this press release when they become available because
they will contain important information.  These statements will be filed by
Ford and Hertz with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Investors
and security holders may obtain a free copy of the statements (when available)
at http://www.sec.gov .  The statements and related materials may be obtained for
free by directing such requests to Ford's Shareholder Relations Department at
1-800-555-5259 or Hertz' Investor Relations Department at 201-307-2337.