With its results back in the black, the market for car hire is smiling again. This good health can be attributed to the return of international tourists to France, as well as to an increase in the number of visitors. a real change in consumer habitsThis is particularly noticeable among the younger generation. A clientele that is less and less interested in the car ownership in favour of rental. At the same time as these developments are taking place in the leisure sector, the business travel is still a key segment for car hire companies, accounting for around 45% of the car hire market in France through specific products, some aimed at specialist agencies, others at key accounts, SMEs and craftsmen...
Despite the presence of four main actors - Avis, Enterprise, Europcar and Hertz -Competition is strong, and this is putting pressure on prices. Companies can't complain about this. According to Ground Monitor 2019 published by American Express Global Business TravelOver the next 12 months, car rental prices are expected to remain stable, or increase very slightly, in France and around the world.
The challenge for each rental company is to differentiate itself by offering the best possible service, while taking account of emerging mobility issues and environmental concerns. "Demand is changing, because companies are taking a different approachsays Laurent de Larrard, Enterprise's Sales Director for France. Before, companies were looking for the most attractive price. Now they are interested in the cost of the service, the efficiency of the hire company and the mobility offer in general.." For travel managers and travellers alike, quality of service is paramount. "The welcome, the fluidity, the quality of the fleet with recent vehicles offering GPS or Bluetooth options are essential elements for our customers.confirms Jean-Philippe Doyen, Sixt's Managing Director for France. Business travellers are very keen on digital solutions."
Clearly, the mobile executive wants to be able to reserve a car with just a few clicks and take it in hand just as easily, preferably without going to the counter; or even, in the future, without even needing the assistance of an agent thanks to the mobile applications which will act as a digital key to open the vehicle. "This will make it possible to remove a vehicle 24 hours a day. Major technological developments are underway"says Laurent Sculier, President of the Avis Budget Group in France and Benelux. In the meantime, paper documents have already disappeared from the relationship with the customer, with contracts being sent by e-mail when the vehicle is collected, followed by the invoice when the customer returns to the branch.
To save them time, members of the loyalty programme Avis Preferred can register their credit card and driving licence in their profile in the Avis application. "Rental is already done, and will be done much more in the future, via mobile terminals. Which will speed up the whole process even more."he adds. Robert Ostermann, Managing Director France of Europcar Mobility Group, confirms this trend: "The digital offer means that more and more time is saved between arriving at the station or airport and picking up the vehicle.."
As far as airports are concerned, Enterprise's business traveller customers receive a SMS indicating the vehicle location on the car park to find an agent who will finalise the rental procedures on a mobile tablet, with the contract automatically sent to him by email. "We make it quick and easy"Laurent de Larrard, who stresses thatEnterprise has already halved the time taken to remove the vehicle. Returns are just as quick, taking just two minutes to deliver. Sixt. The must-have tablet in the hands of the agents allows them to quickly check the condition of the vehicle before sending the invoice by e-mail. Hertz provides its customers with Hertz Connectwith the iCheck which guarantees the precise condition of the vehicle on departure and clear invoicing on return in the event of damage caused during the hire period, as well as offering a free 4G connection, wifi and GPS.
Bye bye, agency
Primarily present in major cities, railway stations and airports, rental companies are continuing to adapt their services to the needs of their customers. network in order to keep pace with demand from business customers. Sixt will open 23 branches in 2019Enterprise plans to add between 10 and 15 new branches a year, with a focus on medium-sized towns. But will branches still be as important tomorrow? "Thanks to digitalization, it will very soon be possible to make vehicles available to customers without having a branch nearby."says Robert Ostermann of Europcar.
At the same time, rental companies have developed additional services to meet the needs of business travellers. Enterprise offers a transfer from the tenant's office - or the location of their choice - to take them to the nearest branch to collect their vehicle. When car hire companies do not deliver the car directly to the customer's office, home or desired address.
By their very nature, business travellers are highly mobile, and young people in particular are major users of new transport services: VTC, moto-taxi, car-sharing, self-service bicyclesnot to mention scooters and electric scooters at "free floating which are flourishing on the streets of major cities. Hire companies, with their strong car-sharing credentials, could not remain indifferent to this phenomenon in order to offer global mobility solutions. Enterprise, for example, has invested US$2.5 billion since 2008 in acquiring technology players such as Deem last Januarya travel booking and management platform for business travellers, travel managers and corporate travel agencies. In addition to vehicle reservations, this Californian start-up offers all the elements of a business trip, from air and rail transport to hotels, taxi transfers and VTCs.
Enterprise has also signed a partnership agreement with the manufacturer General Motors to expand its fleet of 100,000 connected carsThis enables the hirer to interact remotely with emergency services, for assistance and automatic intervention in the event of an accident, or to lock/unlock the vehicle. "This agreement concerns North America, but it will have repercussions on other continents."says Laurent de Larrard. For its part, Avis is working with the Google specialising in autonomous cars.
Enhanced mobility
In France, this leasing company pays particular attention to the partnership established 30 years ago with the SNCFIt also means that lessees can collect the keys to the vehicle almost at the end of the platform. "Rail is at the heart of mobility in France. With stations at the heart of towns and cities, Avis is as close as possible to passenger mobility."Laurent Sculier, who hopes soon to be able to offer a comprehensive train + car booking service, as opposed to the two required today.
The mobile application is obviously at the heart of mobility issues. The new features ofAvis AppThese services are available at around fifty branches in France, including the Paris airports. OrlyThe Avis Preferred app, which is currently being tested at the Lyon Saint-Exupéry, Nice Côte d'Azur and Paris Gare de Lyon car parks, provides information on the types of vehicle available in the car park, so that Avis Preferred travellers can choose their brand and even ask to upgrade their range before arriving at the branch. For its part, Europcar is expecting a new version of its application - currently in the test phase - in the second half of 2019, with major advances such as the easing of administrative constraints once the traveller's profile has been completed. "This is a major launch, as the application has to take into account the specific characteristics of the 130 countries where Europcar is present, agreements with franchisees, local rules and legislation, etc."explains Robert Ostermann.
Since March, Sixt has been aiming to revolutionise the market with the "One"including car hire (Sixt rent), thecar sharing (Sixt share) and chauffeur-driven vehicles (Sixt ride). The German rental company's offering is complemented by 1,500 partnerships in some sixty countries, giving a total of 240,000 vehicles for hire and a million drivers. The roll-out of Sixt share, which began in Berlin, will be extended progressively across Europe and the United States. "Customers who rent a vehicle via Sixt share and keep it for more than one day are switched seamlessly to Sixt rent rates."explains Jean-Philippe Doyen. Self-service car hire by the hour or day is also offered by Hertz through its Hertz 24/7 offering, with a Hertz 24/7 Business version available at France's biggest airports and a number of railway stations such as Lyon Part Dieu.
"More and more bookings are being made in chains," says Laurent Sculier of Avis. We have to work with partners that provide different mobility offers corresponding to customer expectations at a given moment."Robert Osterman, from Europcar, added: "Business travellers want access to different types of mobility depending on their needs for the day or week." In recent years, the company, which has renamed itself Europcar Mobility Group, has acquired the London-based private chauffeur service Brunel, which caters for business customers, as well as Spain's Bluemove, Italy's GuidaMi and the UK's Europcar Mobility Group.Ubeeqo.
In the future, the line between car hire and car sharing will be blurred when we can put cars directly on the streets.
Specialising in self-service car hire, this operator is active in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Hamburg and Madrid, not to mention Paris, where Ubeeqo has just won the majority of the city council's call for tenders for the service. Mobilibfollowing theAutolib' stop. "With 250 vehicles in Paris to date, Ubeeqo is a car-sharing solution accessible via a smartphone and aimed at both the general public and professionals. It can also be deployed on industrial sites, where we maintain and provide vehicles."says Robert Ostermann, who believes that it will be necessary to multiply this fleet by four or five in order to have both the volume of cars and the best possible reputation. It was this lack of critical mass that led Avis to shut down its subsidiary Zipcar in Paris, Brussels and Barcelona in order to refocus this car-sharing offer on London and North America. "In the future, the line between car hire and car sharing will be blurred when we can put cars directly on the streets."predicts Laurent Sculier.
Green fleets
By gradually greening their vehicle fleets, leasing companies are focusing on environmental issues in response to the eco-responsible concerns of certain customers, but above all of companies involved in a sustainable development policy. Corporate Social Responsibility approach. Many companies are committed to reducing their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the results of which are published each year in a sustainable development report. "We are seeing a real increase in awareness among managers and their employees. This new demand from companies and changes in emissions legislation have prompted us to accelerate our efforts in this area."Europcar has 4,000 hybrid and electric vehicles.
The major leasing companies emphasise above all the constant renewal of their fleets, which enables them to ensure CO2 emission levels that are among the lowest in the sector. "Avis' fleet is less than a year old and we are switching to petrol vehicles, which are less polluting than diesel."says Laurent Sculier. In addition to hybrid vehicles, as part of a partnership with Toyota, the leasing company will also be offering testing all-electric solutions. "This is still an emerging technology, which will only account for 5 % of our fleet in 2020," he cautions. Leasing is already a source of anxiety for some customers.
If you add to that the question of autonomy, it doesn't help matters any.." For the electric car to finally take off, an efficient and optimal recharging network will first have to be created in France. And that doesn't look like happening any time soon.
