Zippy market debut for car hire pioneer

Zipcar, the hire-car service for city dwellers, listed its shares on Nasdaq yesterday, surging 66 per cent within minutes. The 10-year-old company, which bought its UK copycat Streetcar last year, raised $173.4m after pricing its shares above the range.

Zipcars are found on the streets of 14 cities and 230 college campuses in the US, Canada and Britain.