Car companies have gotten a bad rep. In an attempt to solidify their company during the economic downturn, car rental companies had to take some proactive measures. The moves they made were not just brilliant but were also implemented at just the right time.
For some unknown reason rental car companies have gotten a bad rep. In an attempt to solidify their business during the economic downturn car rental agencies had to take some proactive measures and believe me you, they did just that. Of course, the moves they made were not only brilliant but were also implemented at just the right time and in just the right way to help them keep their business profitable over the past several years.
They saw the market was on the decline so they sold off their fleets and they kept just the bare minimum of cars that they could at each leasing location. They even, in some instances where locations were close enough created a automobile sharing program that allowed for more than one location to be able to share vehicles to cover customer needs without having extra vehicles sitting and sitting.
What occurred by doing this is that the rental companies kept their very best vehicles, reduced their costs by decreasing the number of vehicles as well as the number of older vehicles, and essentially increased the demand by decreasing the number of available vehicles. So now at a point where many in the travel industry are struggling to get by the rental car companies aren't only holding their own by actually turning a profit because of the strategic approach they took with their business strategies.
Of course, there are in fact many customers who are disappointed because the car rental agencies are not slashing prices like the rest of the companies in the travel industry but overall this was a good business tactic and one that has really saved the industry. While hotels, airlines, and such are slashing prices the car rental companies are holding steady and offering less discounts. However, when you look at the market average over the past several years, the average daily cost of a rental vehicle is actually a little bit less than it was several years ago.
So the lesson is that while it might seem that rental car prices are not plummeting they have been on the decline over the past several years. Even though hotels and airlines are having to keep slashing prices to attract in business and the rental car companies aren't does not mean that you're over paying for your rental car it just means that the rental car agencies aren't nearly as panicked as others in the travel industry are.
