Thrifty Car Rental has switched its North American ad account to cme-khbb of New York after 10 years with Advertising Inc. of Tulsa, Okla.

Ron Kerr, director of national marketing for Thrifty Canada, says it was imperative the new agency, formerly known as Campbell-Mithun-Esty, have a Canadian presence.

cme-khbb affiliate Saatchi & Saatchi has offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Windsor, Ont.

The annual Canadian media buy is worth more than $1 million.

Trade magazine placement has been handled by the u.s. agency and Kerr has been taking care of the broadcast buy.

The alignment of duties may change in the future, but the extent of the involvement of cme-khbb, Toronto, with Thrifty Canada is still under discussion.

Thrifty is part of Pentastar Transportation Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler.

cme-khbb is the agency for Chrysler’s Jeep/Eagle division.

Thrifty Canada has more than 150 locations, mainly franchised, including 38 in-terminal airport counters.

Earlier this year, Thrifty announced a new corporate strategy, which aims to make it more ‘consumer-friendly.’