** Shares of rental car firm Avis Budget Group CAR.O down 7.8% at $82.73 early Weds after it swung to a qtrly loss and named new CEO

** CAR shares hit 1-mth low and tracking biggest one-day pct drop since Sept 3

** Parsippany, New Jersey Avis late Tues posted Q4 loss of $1.96 bln, $55.66/sh, compared to profit of $259 mln, or $7.10, a yr ago

** Co reported adj EBITDA loss in qtr of $101 mln, while analysts anticipated adj EBITDA gain of $108.3 mln, per LSEG

** Rev fell 2% y/y to $2.7 bln, inline with consensus

** Loss reflects a change in strategy to accelerate fleet rotations, which resulted in shortening useful life of most of its vehicles in the Americas segment, co said

** Financial impact was one-time non-cash impairment of $2.3 bln, co said, adding strategy expected to create more certainty in fleet costs and position it for sustainable growth

** Avis also announced CEO Joe Ferraro stepping down and will be succeeded by Brian Choi, its chief transformation officer

** Ferraro, who held CEO role since 2020, on Jun 30 will become adviser to the board. Choi to take over on Jul 1

** Of 9 analysts covering CAR, recommendation breakdown is 5 "strong buy' or "buy", rest "hold"; median PT of $128 down from $130 a month ago and from $140 on Nov 12

** With move on the session, shares off ~36% over the past year. Dow Jones Transport Avg .DJT has risen ~3% over same time frame

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))