What happened to the car rental industry in 2016 and forecasts for 2017
- CatCar
- What happened to the car rental industry in 2016 and forecasts for 2017
Car rental services – even bigger, even better, even more profitable
Foreigners are showing more and more interest in Ukraine. They come here as tourists and entrepreneurs. They visit Kyiv and other regions. For their own convenience, it is more profitable for them to get here by plane and then travel further by car. Therefore, the demand for car rental has increased by as much as 68% over the first 5 months of this year! And this is among foreigners. Ukrainians have started using car rental services more by only 14%.
Eurovision: car rental expectations have not been met
It would seem that the largest international event in Ukraine – Eurovision – should have become an event not only in the world of song, but also for car rental companies. But it was not so. The expected desire of visitors to
rent a car did not materialize. According to experts, it was all about the location of the competition – everything took place within Kyiv. There was no need to rent a car to travel on busy roads. 'However, the volume of cars rented out in May increased due to the start of the season, which will last until the end of October,' said Haim Kapelnikov, director of
Avis. This is a car rental corporation with branches all over the world.
Car rental: which models are the most popular?
Economy class cars are in the greatest demand - this is the Ford Fiesta, which is part of group A, for example. And it makes no difference whether it is a manual or automatic transmission. Also popular are the following groups:
- B (this is the Volkswagen Polo);
- Group E (Volkswagen Golf 7 with an automatic transmission);
- Executive business class cars, such as the Volkswagen Passat - group F;
- J - luxury cars - Audi A6 or BMW 5-series;
- Cars with all-wheel drive (L). They are chosen for long-distance travel and cross-country driving - this is the Volkswagen Tiguan;
- Also M and R are more solid cars, like the Audi Q7, etc.).
'The client does not book a specific brand and model of car, but a group that consists of cars of a similar class and characteristics, but from different manufacturers,' Kapelnikov explained.
The rental cost is not that high!
Rental prices are very diverse. They start from 30 USD per day. This will be a light economical car. And more solid cars from the 'premium' category will vary from 150 to 200 USD per day. Mostly they are rented for 12 days. But passenger cars are not the only ones that Ukrainians and visitors to the country rent. Light-duty trucks have become popular. These include the Ford Transit and Mercedes Sprinter. There are also services offering motorcycle rentals. They are very popular in the summer.
What will happen next with car rental in Ukraine
In 2016, the number of units in the car fleets of the Association of Lessors increased by 22% in total. The number of cars disposed of increased by 10%, and the number of cars rented increased by 38%. In general, 50% more rental agreements were concluded than in 2015. This year, with the adoption of a visa-free regime, everything can become even more positive. Usually, Ukrainians rented a car abroad. Now there is an opportunity to rent it through local companies. Soon, Ukraine plans to implement a slightly different format of car rental -
Time Sharing. In other words, hourly rental. This type of rental will help reduce traffic. And with the appearance of electric cars for rent, it will increase the environmental friendliness of this type of service.
