8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

____________________

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

October 27, 2005

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	1-13647	73-1356520
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

5330 East 31st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (918) 660-7700

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

ITEM 2.02 RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONDITION

On October 27, 2005, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), issued the news release attached hereto as Exhibit 99.25 reporting financial results of the Company for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.

All of the information furnished in Item 2.02 of this report and the accompanying exhibit shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, and shall not be incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

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ITEM 9.01FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS

(c) Exhibits

Exhibit No. Description

99.25 News release reporting Third Quarter of 2005 Financial Results, issued by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. on October 27, 2005

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.
	(Registrant)

October 27, 2005	By:	/s/ STEVEN B. HILDEBRAND
		Steven B. Hildebrand
		Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial
		Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal
		Accounting Officer

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit No. Description

99.25 News release reporting Third Quarter of 2005 Financial Results, issued by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. on October 27, 2005

5

EX-99

Exhibit 99.25

Press Release

Contacts:

Media:	Terri Snow				Financial:	Steve Hildebrand
		Executive Director -					Chief Financial Officer
			Corporate Communications				(918) 669-2288
			(918) 669-2743
				tsnow@dtag.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP REPORTS THIRD
QUARTER EARNINGS

Earnings per share up 11.5 percent; revenue increases 8.5 percent

TULSA, OKLAHOMA, October 27, 2005: Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:DTG) today reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2005. Total revenue for the 2005 third quarter was $456.7 million, an 8.5 percent increase over the 2004 third quarter. Net income for the quarter was $28.4 million, or $1.07 per diluted share. For the comparable 2004 quarter, net income was $25.0 million, or $.96 per diluted share.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, total revenue was $1.2 billion, an 8.6 percent increase over the comparable period in 2004. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2005, was $52.7 million, or $2.00 per diluted share, compared to $49.4 million, or $1.88 per diluted share, which includes the $.14 per share favorable cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle for the comparable nine months of 2004.

Third quarter vehicle rental revenue increased 10.9 percent over the 2004 third quarter to $419.1 million, driven by an 11.7 percent increase in rental days partially offset by a 0.7 percent decline in revenue per day. Same store rental days were up 4.6 percent and franchise acquisitions added another 7.1 percent to rental day growth. Vehicle leasing revenue declined from last year’s third quarter due to fewer vehicles leased to franchisees resulting primarily from franchise acquisitions, which was partially offset by higher lease rates.

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DTG

page 2

“We are very pleased with our strong third quarter performance,” Gary L. Paxton, President and Chief Executive Officer, said. “We achieved strong same store rental day growth, high utilization of our vehicle fleet and did a good job of managing costs. We were very successful in growing reservations on the Internet and in particular our own branded Web sites, dollar.com and thrifty.com. We were challenged during the quarter from the damaging hurricanes which hit the Gulf Coast region and are extremely proud of our employees’ efforts to assist their customers and colleagues during and following these disasters. Hurricane-related damage to our facilities and vehicles and reduced rental volume at our New Orleans operations impacted third quarter pretax results by about $2 million.

“We were also pleased with the recent passage in August of the Highway Bill which removed unlimited vicarious liability for vehicle rental and leasing companies. We anticipate this new law will lower our annual insurance costs by $12 million to $14 million. As we previously said, we are experiencing significant cost increases for 2006 model year vehicles and we continue to implement cost saving initiatives and revenue improvement opportunities.”

During the third quarter, the Company purchased 18,800 shares under its $100 million share repurchase program at a total cost of $607,000. Since announcing the program in July 2003, the Company has purchased 1.5 million shares at a cost of $44.7 million. Repurchases in the third quarter were minimal due to the Company's determination during the quarter that it was appropriate to temporarily suspend the repurchase program. This suspension will remain in effect until the Company determines that it is appropriate to restart the program.

The Company does not intend to comment further with respect to the reasons for the suspension, other than to assure investors that it is not the result of any accounting or regulatory issue. The Company remains committed to its share repurchase program and intends to restart the program as soon as appropriate.

Outlook

“Industry rental pricing remains very competitive although we are starting to see higher rental rates at many of our locations,” Paxton said. “We are narrowing our 2005 earnings per share guidance range to $2.05 - $2.15 based on achieving full year same store rental day growth of 2.5 to 3.0 percent and revenue per day down 0.5 to 1.0 percent from last year. Our previous earnings per share guidance range was $2.00 - $2.20 based on revenue per day being flat with the prior year.”

The Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. third quarter 2005 earnings release conference call will be held on Thursday, October 27, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. (central time). Those interested in listening to the conference call live may access the call via Web cast at the corporate Web site, dtag.com, or by dialing 888-390-5183 (domestic) or 630-395-0022 (international), using the pass code “Dollar Thrifty.” An audio replay of the conference call will be available through November 10, 2005, by calling 800-860-4696 (domestic) or 203-369-3836 (international). The replay will also be available via the corporate Web site for one year.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Driven by the mission “Value Every Time,” the Company's brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, serve value-conscious travelers in approximately 70 countries. Dollar and Thrifty have approximately 800 corporate and franchised locations in the United States and Canada, and they have operations at most major airports. The Company's more than 8,000 employees are located mainly in North America, but global service capabilities exist through an expanding international franchise network. For additional information, visit dtag.com.

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DTG

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Some of the statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. believes such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and certain factors could cause results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors include: price and product competition; access to reservation distribution channels; economic and competitive conditions in markets and countries where the companies' customers reside and where the companies and their franchisees operate; natural hazards or catastrophes; incidents of terrorism; airline travel patterns; changes in capital availability or cost; costs and other terms related to the acquisition and disposition of automobiles; systems or communications failures; costs of conducting business and changes in structure or operations; and certain regulatory and environmental matters and litigation risks. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, among others, materialize, actual results could vary from those estimated, anticipated or projected. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.

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Table 1

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Income
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
Unaudited

			Three months ended						As % of
			September 30,						Total revenues
			2005			2004			2005			2004
Revenues:
	Vehicle rentals			$	419,145		$	377,989		91.8	%		89.8	%
	Vehicle leasing				19,630			24,688		4.3	%		5.9	%
	Fees and services				14,778			16,384		3.2	%		3.9	%
	Other				3,193			2,085		0.7	%		0.4	%
		Total revenues			456,746			421,146		100.0	%		100.0	%
Costs and Expenses:
	Direct vehicle and operating				230,539			205,832		50.5	%		48.9	%
	Vehicle depreciation and lease charges, net				92,430			88,033		20.2	%		20.9	%
	Selling, general and administrative				61,486			60,487		13.5	%		14.4	%
	Interest expense, net				26,978			26,280		5.9	%		6.2	%
		Total costs and expenses			411,433			380,632		90.1	%		90.4	%
Income before income taxes					45,313			40,514		9.9	%		9.6	%
Income tax expense					16,918			15,480		3.7	%		3.7	%
Net income				$	28,395		$	25,034		6.2	%		5.9	%
Earnings per share:
	Basic			$	1.13		$	1.00
	Diluted			$	1.07		$	0.96
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding:
	Basic				25,189,893			24,952,426
	Diluted				26,432,107			26,195,471

Table 1 (Continued)

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Income
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
Unaudited

			Nine months ended						As % of
			September 30,						Total revenues
			2005			2004			2005			2004
Revenues:
	Vehicle rentals			$	1,067,660		$	960,374		91.5	%		89.4	%
	Vehicle leasing				49,467			63,165		4.2	%		5.9	%
	Fees and services				39,508			43,467		3.4	%		4.0	%
	Other				10,587			7,788		0.9	%		0.7	%
		Total revenues			1,167,222			1,074,794		100.0	%		100.0	%
Costs and Expenses:
	Direct vehicle and operating				631,150			542,480		54.1	%		50.5	%
	Vehicle depreciation and lease charges, net				200,253			222,017		17.2	%		20.6	%
	Selling, general and administrative				176,470			164,287		15.1	%		15.3	%
	Interest expense, net				69,990			68,527		5.9	%		6.4	%
		Total costs and expenses			1,077,863			997,311		92.3	%		92.8	%
Income before income taxes					89,359			77,483		7.7	%		7.2	%
Income tax expense					36,643			31,784		3.2	%		2.9	%
Income before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle					52,716			45,699		4.5	%		4.3	%
Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle					-			3,730		0.0	%		0.3	%
Net income				$	52,716		$	49,429		4.5	%		4.6	%
Basic earnings per share:
	Income before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle			$	2.10		$	1.83
	Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle				-			0.15
	Net income			$	2.10		$	1.98
Diluted earnings per share:
	Income before cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle		$		2.00		$	1.74
	Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle				-			0.14
	Net income			$	2.00		$	1.88
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding:
	Basic				25,101,071			24,983,528
	Diluted				26,397,426			26,265,039

Table 2

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
Selected Operating and Financial Data

	Three months ended			Nine months ended
	September 30, 2005			September 30, 2005
OPERATING DATA:
Vehicle Rental Data: (includes new stores)
Average number of vehicles operated		130,115			115,787
% change from prior year		9.4%			12.9%
Number of rental days		10,392,740			26,907,381
% change from prior year		11.7%			11.8%
Vehicle utilization		86.8%			85.1%
Percentage points change from prior year		1.7 p.p.			(0.5) p.p.
Average revenue per day		$40.33			$39.68
% change from prior year		(0.7%	)		(0.6%	)
Monthly average revenue per vehicle		$1,074			$1,025
% change from prior year		1.4%			(1.4%	)
Same Store Vehicle Rental Data: (excludes new stores)
Average number of vehicles operated		121,790			106,434
% change from prior year		2.4%			3.8%
Number of rental days		9,735,085			24,663,525
% change from prior year		4.6%			2.5%
Vehicle Leasing Data:
Average number of vehicles leased		14,900			12,928
% change from prior year		(30.4%	)		(29.9%	)
Monthly average revenue per vehicle		$439			$425
% change from prior year		14.0%			11.5%
FINANCIAL DATA: (in millions) (unaudited)
Non-vehicle depreciation and amortization		$ 7			$ 20
Non-vehicle capital expenditures (excludes acquisitions)		8			23
Franchise acquisitions		-			4
Cash paid for income taxes		-			-

Selected Balance Sheet Data
(In millions)

	September 30,						December 31,
	2005			2004			2004
	(Unaudited)
Cash and cash equivalents		$	279		$	199		$	204
Restricted cash and investments			417			284			455
Revenue-earning vehicles, net			2,755			2,621			2,268
Total debt (all vehicle debt)			2,925			2,656			2,500
Stockholders' equity			677			591			603