Car rental companies cutting staff and raising rates

It has become clear to many frequent car rental customers that the economic downturn has hit the industry.

Many business travelers have commented that the cars they are given have higher odometer mileage and obviously less care taken with maintenance. They also report rising rental rates and fewer staff to handle checking in and out.

As customer numbers decline, rental car operators have been cutting back on staff and closing down some of their off-airport locations.

“These are troubling times in the industry,” said the managing editor of Auto Rental News, Chris Brown.

In recent developments, the Avis Budget Group eliminated 2,200 jobs this month, or around seven per cent of its workforce. The cuts are a move to reduce annual operating costs by $150-200 million. Hertz laid off 2,000 workers in 2008, and Alamo, Dollar Thrifty, Enterprise, and National also cut employee numbers recently.

Hertz reported a drop in net income of 94 percent, to $63 million for the first nine months of 2008. It also saw a decrease of two percent in the number of days cars were rented, on average.

On December 8, Advantage Rent A Car, which called itself “one of America’s fastest-growing car rental companies,” filed for bankruptcy reorganization, and announced that rental cars were no longer available at most of its locations in U.S.

Thanks to www.usatoday.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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