Fewer travellers may be hiring cars for overseas trips, but for those that do there are some unique issues to bear in mind, says Jenny Southan.
Overseas, as in the UK, the car rental market has taken a severe punch to the stomach as a result of the decline in business travel. Corporate travellers are renting fewer cars for shorter amounts of time – Sixt, one of Europe’s largest rental companies, has found that the average is two to 2.5 days when abroad, a reduction of 11 per cent. Fabrice Quinquenel, Hertz’s vice-president of sales for Europe, says: “People are being asked to travel less, or to travel better – for example, by shortening their trips.” With budgets cut, the rental of luxury cars has also had to take a back seat. So what types of vehicles are business travellers hiring when abroad? Quinquenel says: “The general trend is to look for security. While it may be cheaper to rent an economy car, companies are more concerned about the safety features they have, such as air bags, ABS brakes, and the size of the car. So people are [not necessarily] opting for cheaper vehicles. “With prestige cars, the situation is a bit different. It’s still a niche area – a lot of the cars are rented by petrol heads or by people going to a special event.” Given one of the main costs to a car rental company is fleet supply, and that car rental is not a hugely profitable enterprise, Andy Lewis, head of marketing and e-commerce for Budget Rent a Car, says times have become more challenging, particularly over the past year and a half. “Car manufacturers are not providing bulk supply at the pricing levels they have in the past,” he says. Extending the life of cars to ease the strain is one way of getting around the problem.” It has been reported that the average replacement cycle could soon rise to a year, but Per Voegerl, commercial director for Sixt, says: “We don’t run any cars for longer than six to nine months. This is because we have our cars on buy-back deals and we’ve built a strong relationship with the manufacturers.” Look back a year or so and six months was probably the average life-span for a rental car, so some might argue that industry standards are slipping. But Lewis says that the differences between a six- and a nine-month-old car are not that significant. “Modern vehicles are robust and they are more reliable than cars were ten to 15 years ago, so the impact on the consumer is negligible,” he says. Given the consumer doesn’t have much say over how old the car they rent is, a more pressing concern for them might be availability during peak periods of demand. Colin O’Keefe, head of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at National Car Rental, says: “The key issue for business travellers is to try to tackle availability problems and uncertainty on pricing by negotiating an ongoing contract with a major rental provider. This will help to reduce the risk during the traditional high demand periods for the leisure market.” The recession may mean the queue at the airport car hire desk has got shorter (although perhaps not for those making last-minute bookings for holidays in Spain), but as every business traveller knows, time is of the essence and hitting the road as soon as possible is imperative. There are a number of companies doing their bit to speed up the process. Since January 2008, Avis has promised a £20 cash-back guarantee that drivers will receive their car keys within three minutes, providing they are members of the Avis Preferred scheme. The offer is now available at 390 Avis locations throughout Europe. Hertz was one of the first car rental companies to offer online check-in, which it launched worldwide last year. “All your information is on the computer so all you need to do is take your rental agreement and the keys and go,” Quinquenel says. He adds: “We have also been piloting kiosks that look like the ones at the airport, so you can pick up the keys and rental agreement without going to the counter.” Good news – but what kind of issues do drivers face abroad once they are on the road? Sixt recognises that, in general, business travellers have few qualms about driving in a foreign country. Voegerl says: “This assertiveness is shown by the amount of internet bookings we get. If we do get a call with a problem then it is usually related to the winter months, when people are asking about driving in snow or mountains. But very often business travellers want as little contact with the hire company as possible – they just want to book the car, collect it and go.” When it comes to the practicalities of driving overseas, there are some things even the most canny traveller should bear in mind. National Car Rental was one of the first firms to launch a website providing local knowledge on highway codes and driving laws abroad. Visit nationaldrivesafe.co.uk and select the country you will be driving in, and you will discover whether the road signs are in English, how safe the roads are, what the policy is on drink driving, information on tolls, fuel and speed limits, and what kind of behaviour you can expect from other drivers – in Bahrain, for example, drivers may cut you up, sound their horn, stop erratically, speed and double park. (The site advises “not to get aggressive when you encounter this type of driving”.) Meriel Roberts, account manager for Europcar International, says: “The laws of the road can vary quite a bit from country to country. Europcar will always supply cars that meet all mandatory requirements for insurance and equipment, but on occasion there are requirements that only the customer can meet. For example, in Spain, it is a legal requirement that drivers who wear glasses always carry a spare pair.” Roberts suggests that customers visit the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s website (fco.gov.uk) for a comprehensive guide before they depart. If a driver arrives in a country they are unfamiliar with, Budget says its teams on the ground are best placed to offer advice on local conditions. Lewis says: “While there has been some harmonisation of rules across the EU, there are still quite a number of nuances at country level. For example, in Europe, but not in the UK, it is often now a legal requirement to have reflective jackets in the vehicle in case you break down. We provide basic advice to customers, but specific legalities, such as speed limits, are best handled when you get there.” Quinquenel notes that Hertz, too, is careful to ensure drivers are aware of localised quirks: “When there are specific issues, such as the lack of access to the restricted historical zone in Rome’s city centre, we provide this information to travellers when they rent the car from us either through a leaflet left in the car or by posters at the office.” The main problem facing people driving abroad is navigating, especially for the lone business person who cannot hold a map and steer, so it’s no surprise that the rental of GPS devices has taken off. Lewis says: “These systems are very much in vogue, much as renting mobile phones was five or ten years ago. They are a godsend for those who have to get to where they are going as quickly and painlessly as possible – if you have meetings and need to keep to a schedule, the last thing you want to do is get lost. “Plus, the rental costs have come down to reflect the cost of purchasing one, and we rent portable systems that can be used in any car. So you can rent a cheaper vehicle and still have the benefits of GPS – they are not found only in premium vehicles,” he says. It’s also worth knowing that if you book a car outside the UK, you will often find the cost of insurance is “exclusive”, meaning it is charged on top of the rental fee, whereas those booking through a UK website will generally be quoted inclusive rates. Lewis says: “In certain markets the level of insurance excess – the liability that remains with the customer – varies, and that reflects local conditions. “For example, in certain markets there is a higher risk of theft, such as in southern Italy and some emerging Central and Eastern European markets. In such places you will be quoted an inclusive price, but there will always be an excess level much the same as you would have on a private car. It is that excess level that will vary from market to market.” So if you do find yourself on the road this autumn, the only thing you should have to worry about is remembering which side of the road to drive on.
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