Survey shows car rental firms in US at crossroads

www.enterprise.com

The rental car industry in the US has been seriously damaged by the recession and the resulting sharp decline in demand, and also by the financial troubles of the country’s major automakers.

Competition for business is fierce, and a poor resale market for older vehicles in their fleets means that rental operators have plenty of cars to rent – but fewer business travelers to rent them to.

Car rental executives are showing a bit of optimism nonetheless, indicating that they believe the worst of the downturn in the sector has been reached and that conditions might not worsen from this point forward.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s vice-president for corporate business development, Brad Carr, commented: “Our performance through 2008 was ahead of the market,” adding: “We’re experiencing what everybody else is, with a backing off of business travel, but I think we’re pretty close to the bottom once we get through this spring and summer.”

Bob Lambert, senior vice-president of commercial sales at Avis Budget Group, said: “We’ve been able to renew business, and we certainly see challenges, but we’ve signed new midmarket business.”

He added: “Bookings in the commercial space have shortened, and it’s hard to tell what’s coming, but I’m optimistic. Still, there won’t be a larger-scale recovery until 2010.”

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