ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Volvo Rents added rental industry veteran Bud Howard to its management team. The newly hired Howard, well known to the industry as former vice president of sales for Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. and senior vice president of sales and marketing for Rental Service Corp., will play a key role in Volvo Rents' strategic development, said Michael Farley, CEO of Volvo Rents.

Farley also announced that Barry Natwick, vice president of global fleet management has been appointed vice president of North America operations. Natwick, a member of the original development team that organized the Volvo Rents program, will be based at the company's North American headquarters in Asheville, N.C.

Volvo also recently opened branches in Kingston, N.Y., and Pensacola, Fla., bringing the Volvo Rents branch network to 25 locations. Best General Rental, owned by Fernando and Charo Del Aguila, is now a Volvo Rents center in Kingston, and Florida Rental Solutions opened its first Volvo franchise center in Pensacola.