How do you see 2021?
Guirec Grand-Clément - We would like to have more visibility. As long as people are not widely vaccinated and business travel is not safe, business will struggle to take off again. Companies will continue to limit the number of business trips they make, and to favour alternative solutions such as videoconferencing. The 1st quarter should therefore remain on a par with what we saw at the end of 2021. However, I hope that a catch-up once this crisis has been overcome, with business customers who will want to meet up and talk, to resume their sales rounds... Enterprise is optimistic, because our business was growing before the pandemic. We have opened a dozen of our own branches in France, and will do the same this year. Enterprise intends to be flexible and responsive, so as to seize opportunities if demand develops positively, with a resumption I hope before the summer.
What are your priorities this year?
G. C-C. - The electrification of the fleet, as leasing companies have to prepare for the directives of the law on the orientation of mobility (LOM), which will require companies with more than 100 vehicles to have at least 10% of low-emission vehicles by 1 January 2022. Companies with their carbon footprint in the rear-view mirror are currently more interested in electric vehicles than their employees. In fact, demand is not there, with business travellers still preferring diesel vehicles for medium-term rentals. Hybrids are more reassuring than all-electrics, because the quantity and quality of charging points are lagging behind. However, this situation is not specific to car hire companies. We need to define the right usage and solutions for each company. The same applies to car-sharing. Hybrids and electric vehicles currently account for less than 10 % of our fleet, which is new and has low CO2 emissions. This project will keep us busy for the next 12 months.
Today, hybrid and electric vehicles account for less than 10 % of our fleet, which has a low CO2 emissions record. This project will keep us busy for the next 12 months.
What impact has Covid-19 had on your business in 2020?
G. C-C. - Enterprise closed most of its network during the initial lockdown, resulting in a drop in bookings of more than 90 %. We ensured the return of vehicles, maintained a business of replacement vehicles for assistance providers and made cars available for care staff. Our network was once again operational at 95 % in July, ensuring the best possible summer with French people staying in France for their holidays and foreign tourists, particularly North Americans, obviously absent. The second confinement led to a drop in bookings from 40 % to 60 %. week-on-week compared to 2019, with Enterprise able to count on a small pick-up in business travel. Business travellers opted for longer rentals and for pick-ups closer to home in order to avoid confined means of transport. However, this 'professional' clientele only represented 20 % to 35 % of our business volume, depending on the last months of 2020. On the leisure front, Christmas, a traditionally busy period, was hit by the closure of winter sports resorts and the decline in family reunions.
Has the pandemic affected your customers' expectations?
G. C-C. - Of course it is. Health has become an important issue. Enterprise has introduced a Complete Cleanliness CommitmentThis protocol covers the cleaning of vehicles in order to ensure protection for our customers and our teams. The pandemic has also accelerated the pace of digitalization, with the use of tablets both on the way out and on the way back, to avoid the need to go to the branch counter as much as possible. The aim is to have an open-air exchange with as little contact as possible.
However, your application does not allow the vehicle to be opened so that the customer can take direct control?
G. C-C. - Yes, that's right. We have the technology, but we need to find the right scenario and choose the right customer target to eventually launch this service.
Have you lowered your tariffs to support business in 2020?
G. C-C. - There was no price battle between hire companies. Our costs initially rose because of new sanitary processes. They then became very high at airports, where our costs remained unchanged while our volumes fell with the disappearance of foreign visitors and the sharp drop in both business travellers and MICE customers. Enterprise is a challenger in the market, and our priority is to offer our customers the right service and security at the right price.
