4:12 am, March 18, 2008
FRANCHISE dealers who run their own car hire operations are continuing to see rentals growing in length, allowing them to increase profitability and reduce their administration.
That’s according to motor industry support services specialist Network Automotive, which has a successful record in manufacturer rental initiatives stretching back more than a quarter of a century.
The company currently manages rental programmes on behalf of several major manufacturers and says that rentals running into weeks or even months are becoming more common.
Managing director Colin Bruder explained: ‘It has been a general trend across the short term car and van hire sector that rentals are getting longer but dealer-based rental seems to be doing even better than the norm.
‘Our belief is that this is being powered by dealers getting better at marketing their car and van hire operations to businesses, resulting in them winning more deals for longer term rental.’
Bruder said that there was no reason why franchise dealers could not compete on cost and service terms with specialist rental operations.
He said: ‘Franchise dealers have tended to sell their rental service in the past based on the convenience of their location but they are also learning to stress other benefits like pricing and service.’
‘Getting customers behind the wheel of one of your models increases the chance that they will actually buy a car from your dealership in future. If a fleet driver has driven one of your cars for three months and liked it, there is every chance they will choose one as their permanent company vehicle.’
