Steering Your Travel

All About Car Rentals

feBusinessTraveller gives the low-down on the car rental option in India which is gaining in popularity in the business travel community

No one can really question the convenience that having your own set of wheels in a new city gives. The advantage is doubled if there is also a chauffeur on call whenever the need arises. And if you consider the number of ways in which the big brands in the car rental business are garnering customers and the magnitude of their growth, then it becomes apparent that this option is here to stay. It is a huge market by anybody's standards. The size is approximately Rs 600 crore in the organised and Rs 1,800 crore in the unorganised market. And it is a growing one. Consider Hertz, one of the leading car rental companies in the world. In India, with its headquarters at Delhi, Hertz India has a fleet of over 600 cars. By March 2006, the company estimates that it will have a fleet of 4,000 cars in 32 cities of India. Avis, which is another big car rental major in the world, has grown in India from a Rs 6 crore organization five years ago to Rs 40 crore.

Branded car rentals entered India in the late '80s when the government of India passed the Rent-A-Cab Scheme permitting car rental operators fulfilling certain conditions to offer self-drive cars besides the chauffeur driven option. With the globalisation of the economy and more Indians travelling overseas on business and leisure, the understanding of the value of brands in terms of quality and reliability of service became better appreciated. Business houses with operations spread all over the country and overseas now find it convenient to make bookings with a large operator in their base city for all the requirements instead of dealing with different operators in each city. Domestic tourism is growing and weekend travel by young corporate executives is also being serviced by the large car rental operators with chauffeur driven and self drive options.

The Indian car rental industry is predominantly chauffeur driven and largely unorganised. Therefore you will find most operators having a fleet where some cars are commercially registered and some are not. Some cars are insured and some are not. Some chauffeurs are reliable and some are not. In most cases chauffeurs are not paid minimum wages. Most organisations today are wary of such dealings which are not completely legal but still prevail in the market. However among the organised players you have only Avis, Hertz, Orix, Autoriders, Travel House and LeasePlan India.

The branded players offer better services and add-ons. For example, take a look at the number of facilities that Hertz India provides to its corporate or regular guest in the fleet, which include: newspapers and magazines; a box of good quality facial tissues; air freshener (aerosol); fire extinguisher; road maps; CDs/ VCDs; a first aid box; battery operated torch; back seat belts; paging board; duty slip folders; notepad and pen; an umbrella; a bottle of mineral water; cold towel. CD/ VCD/ tape players; chauffeur with mobile, etc.

Renting Options

Most major car rentals firms have a number of renting options for both leisure and business travel. The most elementary are the self-drive and the chauffeur-driven option. But there are also customised holiday packages woven into car rentals. Some of the renting options include:

• Self Drive: In this option you drive your own car after picking it up from the location of the car rental company. You can sometimes have the option of hiring a chauffeur only for the number of hours of requirement. Which means, you could prefer to be driven to business appointments at peak hours and drive it yourself in leisure time. Hertz offers a programme by which vehicles may be rented on a daily, weekly or monthly basis - and the chauffeur on an hourly basis, as and when you need him.
• With Chauffeur : In this option, chauffeurs take you around the city for business meetings or sightseeing, for transfers from and to the airport, and for travelling between cities.
• Long Term Rentals: Expatriates and other individuals who would like the convenience of owning a car but not the hassles associated with purchase, resale, insurance, fueling and maintenance of the car can take it on long term lease. This option is available with or without chauffeur depending on customer choice.
• Overseas Driving Holidays: For individuals travelling overseas, it is a very convenient option to pick up a car from the airport, explore the country and return the car at the same or any other location. Add to this the facility to prepay in Indian rupees and get a voucher, and it does become a very attractive proposition.
• Events And Conferences: Car rental companies like Avis organises the ground transportation for events and conferences like the Aero Show in Bangalore including buses and coaches as well as pre and post tours.
• Family Holidays: : Domestic tourism is growing and busy corporate executives wishing to take weekends off with their families to tourist locations at a distance of around 300-400 kms from their city of residence can get packages in which all requirements like hotel booking, sight seeing and car are included. Hertz offers one such package.

Benefits Over Train Or Air Travel

The car rental product is required for both travel, intra and inter city. Air/rail is obviously not an option in the former case. However for inter city, travel by road is an alternative to air/rail travel. The advantages of a rented car are:

• Convenience: It is door to door and available 24 hours a day at your disposal. In air/ rail travel you need to get to and from the airport/railway station and there are fixed timings which you need to stick to.
• Fun: Ability to see the geography at your own pace and not be restricted to standard stopovers.
• Price: For a group, travelling by road is often less expensive than travelling by air if you include the cost of getting to and from the airport, the cost of transportation still required for local sightseeing etc. However for long distances and night travel, customers would still prefer air/ rail because of road conditions and security reasons.

Future Trends

In the future one can expect to get a SMS upon reaching a city with the car number sent to you, your chauffeur's name and his mobile number. Avis is in talks with mobile companies for such solutions through SMS gateways.

Long term rentals for expatriates is another trend which is expected to get a big boost. Expats coming to the country need a car for short durations from six months to three years but do not want to get into the complications associated with ownership etc.

There is also a large market potential for off road adventure tours using four-wheel drive SUVs which are now available in the country. Indian geography offers a huge choice of terrain including deserts, mountains, lakes and a large network of highways which can make this a hugely popular product. Avis is in the final stages of launching this service in association with its group company - Mercury Himalayan Expeditions (MHE).

Overseas driving holidays is also catching on big time with the Indian traveller increasingly realising the fun of travelling by road. Although it is still a challenge to drive in Europe/US where road and traffic conditions are very different, still most people who try this once always come back for more. Moreover it is much cheaper as an option compared to Eurail/flight.

(Information Courtesy: Avis India And Hertz India)