Been a while since I’ve traveled on an expense account. Hopping off the ‘rental car’ shuttle and searching for my name digitally splayed on a board in the middle of a giant parking lot. Oooh nice, section BA8. Walk on over and choose a four wheeled companion for the week. Nope, don’t miss that a hell of a lot.
Here’s a great story posted in the LA Times about the turbulent market of “rental fleets”.
Simply put, not enough of the nation’s roughly 1.85 million rental cars are gas-savers to satisfy demand, an imbalance rental agencies cannot quickly remedy. As a result, car rental companies are struggling financially, and long-held pricing models that put more luxurious vehicles ahead of crank-window econoboxes are being turned on their head.
“Just six months ago, anybody would have taken a Chevy Trailblazer SUV in lieu of a four-cylinder Cobalt. Not now,” said Mike Kane, owner of rental car advisor Vehicle Replacement Consulting Group. “That’s a big deal. That’s 25 years of history changing.”
Tags: · Fuel Consumption · Rental CarsNo Comments
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