For those of you that like statistics and fact based blogs – come on now, dont pretend like this stuff is boring and you’re not a car hire nerd Here are a couple of stats that you might find intresting. Honest!
While looking at some numbers from a data post from 2011 regarding the amount of cars each major supplier operates versus the amount of revenue generated, we can grab a snippet of which supplier is generating the most revenue per vehicle for car hire in the USA. Its not an exact science but its in the ball park.
Check out these numbers;
Cars in service
Total revenue
Revenue per car
Avis/Budget
285000
4110000000
14421.05
Dollar/Thrifty
118000
1645000000
13940.68
Hertz/Advantage
320000
4241000000
13253.13
Enterprise/Alamo
920861
11100000000
12053.94
We all know that Enterprise/Alamo is the monster player in the market with almost 1 million cars in the market but its surprising to find they are not the top dog when its comes to getting the most revenue per vehicle.
As you can see above the master’s of milking every last dime out of their vehicles is Avis/Budget making on average approximately$14,421.05 per vehicle.
Now the second hand market has been extremely buoyant for the last couple of years, and this is where the car rental suppliers are really making their profits.
So can we assume that Alamo are selling their vehicles before Budget, therefore not getting the most out of the rental revenue but getting more from the second hand market?
If you liked this post and still have a little ‘nerd time’ left to fill why not check the related blog James posted back in December.
If you’re a new car hire USA supplier getting your vehicles on airport at such locations as Orlando and SanfordAirport is not only expensive but near on impossible as spaces rarely become available.
On the 16th January 2012 Sixt Rent A Car, a large player in the European Market, opened up a local office to serve Orlando International Airport. The new location, which is situated in close proximity to the major transport hub, will also offer a free 24 hour shuttle to and from the two airport terminals to assist customers in reaching the conveniently located branch with ease. The total journey from Airport to location is approximately 7 mins (source = google maps).
Now one of the unique selling points of established suppliers in Florida is the fact their hire cars are on on airport, customers have generally be travelling for over 9 hours when they hit Orlando and so he last thing they want to do it travel again.
Last night I asked our facebook friends this question - Would you consider taking a shuttle bus for a cheaper car hire rate?
Granted we didn’t give our other facebook friends very long to comment, however I think the above couple of answers are possibly a typical response.
So how do car rental companies successfully operate off airport; here are a couple of ideas.
Offer lower rates, I’m not sure 20-30% is possible as suggested above, but you have to be cheaper than the on airport suppliers.
Offer a diverse fleet, I don’t think you can compete with the airport suppliers head on however offering prestige vehicles and American Muscle cars could be a way of enticing customers to your service.
Offer amazing customer services, from the shuttle bus driver to the person at the car hire location, you must be at least 10% better than the on airport suppliers.
The most important, be fast; queues at Orlando International Airport can sometimes keep you from the road for a good hour. Your shuttle buses must be regular, and the pick up process must be fast. The total process must be under 12 mins.
Car Hire USA is notorious for being slow to grasp new technologies, the companies involved are generally huge behemoths, who although cash rich and powerful aren’t particularly flexible and fast moving with tiers and tiers of red tape to go through.
Luckily though the car manufactures are quite a bit quicker. A report by KPMG interviewed 200 leading car manufacture bosses to see what the future holds for our vehicles.
The result a unanimous agreement that voice recognition and internet connected vehicles would be the norm with WIFI and 3G capabilities.
The industry believes that big firms like google, apple and Microsoft will beginning to strike deals with manufactures as they look to get a foot hold on this Billion Dollar industry.
John Leech from KPMG says some car manufacturers are already making “connected” cars.
“The recent collaboration between Toyota and Intel was announced at the end of last year,”
he said.
“Intel claims that the connected car is the third-fastest growing technological device, following smartphones and tablets. For a car maker that offers huge potential.”
Chevy’s Super Bowl commercial this year for it’s new Cruze model which includes facebook integration gives a little hint at the possibilities.
What would you use internet access in your car for?
One of the main requirements for collecting your USA car hire is the showing of your driving licence. Here in the UK, the “new” style driving licence is made up of two parts.
The first being a credit card style identification part, including a photo of the licence holder plus full name and age.
The second piece is a paper part which includes and shows our suppliers any endorsements you may have.
Our suppliers reserve the right to refuse any customer who cannot produce both their paper part and card ID. See our terms for more information.
However in 2014 this will all be changing as the DVLA has revealed that it plans to do away with the paper licence part and move endorsements online via a massive database within three years.
This database will allow police officers instant access to driver endorsements via the internet and will allow our suppliers (with your permission) to also access them online.
The old style UK driving licence which is purely paper, will be phased totally out. According to the DVLA, there are still around 12 million paper licences in circulation.
They may not be as popular as google, but over at Bing they do like to innovate. I was searching for some detailed airport maps for the USA and came across these excellent images.
Today there are maps for 42 airports covering most of the medium and large hub airports in the United States. Bing will be adding new airports regularly, so check their website if your airport isn’t currently listed.
How to find airport maps
Bing have made locating airport maps an easy task from your desktop. There are two ways to do this:
1. Just search for the airport (by name, city, or even code) on Bing Maps, and zoom in using map.
2. Search for your flight status on Bing (for example: CO 1665), and click on the map link besides the airport to see its map.
I think you’ll agree this is a great feature especially if your unfamiliar with the airport, Bing also give the option to send the map directly to your mobile.
Allstate released its yearly safest drivers report today, this is the 7th year that the insurance company has released information regarding their drivers.
The report ranks America’s 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers, according to Allstate claim data.
This year’s top honor of “America’s Safest Driving City” is Fort Collins, Colo., the second year in the row for the city at the top spot. According to the report, the average driver in Fort Collins will experience an auto collision every 14 years, which is 28.6 percent less likely than the national average of 10 years.
Fort Collins official stated
“For the second year in a row, we’ve earned the title of the safest driving city in America due to the responsible behavior and safe driving habits of our residents,” said Fort Collins Mayor Karen Weitkunat. “Safety is a critical component to creating a world-class city; we have our residents to thank as they are undoubtedly the reason Fort Collins is one of the best places to live, work, and play. I’m honored to be a part of a community that is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s best.”
Top 10 Safest Cities
Average Years Between Collisions
1. Fort Collins, Colo. 14.0
2. Boise, Idaho 13.4
3. Lincoln, Neb. 12.9
4. Chandler, Ariz. 12.6
5. Huntsville, Ala. 12.3
6. Knoxville, Tenn. 12.2
7. Springfield, Mo. 12.2
8. Reno, Nev. 12.0
9. Eugene, Ore. 11.9
10. Chattanooga, Tenn. 11.9
Have you driven in any of the Cities listed in the top 10?
Well the “Mover” is now up and running and has been since the 09/09/11. One of the idea’s behind the Mover was to cut the amount of shuttle bus runs being made, an estimated 1400 runs were being made per day! The mover in contrast can deliver 3000 passengers per hour which has helped Miami International Airport decrease its carbon emission’s by 30%.
The Miami Mover has a top speed of 40 mph and can be found by taking the lifts to Miami International’s third level moving walkway, which connects you to the Miami Mover.
Have you used the Miami Mover yet, what did you think?
Following on from Scott Thompson’s letter to Budget and Thrifty sent late August, Dollar Thrifty this week sent out letters detailing the deadline they expect all formal offers to be submitted by.
The letter states
Final offers for Dollar Thrifty are due no later than 5 p.m. EST Oct. 10
Mark Pinsky, Dollar Thrifty consultant goes on to state
The board of directors of the company will meet to review your offer, Based upon your offer, the board will decide whether to have further discussions between you and the company regarding a potential transaction.
“The company reserves the right in its sole discretion to evaluate the terms and conditions of your offer, to enter into or terminate any negotiations or agreements with any potential purchaser or purchasers at any time and to reject any or all offers from potential purchasers for any reason whatsoever.”
An interesting part of the letter asks potential buyers to list the following within their proposal
Purchase Price
Mix between cash and shares.
How they plan to finance the deal.
Regulator terms that would be required to complete the deal.
How Dollar Thrifty will be merged in to the suitors company.
The composition of the combined company’s board of directors post-transaction.
How they will maintain a presence in Tulsa.
How they will retain Dollar staff.
Retention of staff clearly favours Budget Rent A Car who already have a large presence in Tulsa however the regulator terms possibly suit Hertz who have already stated they would look to sell Advantage Rent A Car to complete the deal.
Hopefully all looks positive that we will finally get some closure this year.
Came across an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times this weekend regarding vehicle theft in the USA, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Cadillac Escalade, a luxury sports utility,is six times more likely to be stolen than the average vehicle.
Pickups also are a favorite of thieves, the trade group said. The Ford F-250 crew cab 4-wheel-drive comes in second to the Escalade for the most theft claims and other trucks also ranked high on the list.
Top 10
Cadillac Escalade (4 versions)
Ford F-250 crew 4WD
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew
Ford F-450 crew 4WD
GMC Sierra 1500 crew
Chrysler 300
Ford F-350 crew 4WD
Chevrolet Avalanche 1500
GMC Yukon
Chrysler 300 HEMI
The vehicles that are least likely to be stolen in the USA are.
Audi A6 4WD
Mercury Mariner (2009-10)
Chevrolet Equinox (2010)
Volkswagen CC (2009-10)
Chevrolet Equinox 4WD (2010)
Lexus RX 350 (2010)
Saturn VUE
Chevrolet Aveo (2009-10)
BMW 5 series 4WD
Mini Cooper Clubman
Wonder if this will have any impact on the vehicle you decide to hire?
Here are a couple of stats that you might find intresting. Honest! 
Recent Comments