This newspaper (chinatimesnet.CN) reporters Liu Kai and Yu Jianping report from Beijing.
On the morning of February 6, Mr. Sun, who lives in Fangshan District, Beijing, drove a Sylphy on his way home. "This year, I didn't buy a train ticket to go home for the Chinese New Year, so I took two days off to rent a car and drive home. Mr. Sun said that he often rents a car to go out during the holidays, and this time he quickly booked a car after not grabbing a ticket at the end of January. "It's much more convenient to rent a car now, you can take it directly from an online order, and there are many choices of vehicles, and you can also change to different models. ”
In recent years, there have been many more users renting cars like Mr. Sun, which has also made the car rental market continue to rise during the holiday season. According to Hello Car Rental data, bookings soared 370% year-on-year (as of January 31); eHi's bookings (including reservations) during the 2024 Spring Festival travel period increased by more than 75% year-on-year, setting a new booking record for all years (as of January 28). Ctrip's domestic car rental orders will increase by about 60% year-on-year (as of January 26), and during the Spring Festival (February 9 to February 17), car rental bookings will increase by more than 3 times year-on-year; According to car rental data, by February 3, the total number of car rental orders for the Spring Festival holiday in 2024 was 23 times.
A car is hard to find, and luxury cars are favored
On February 6, a reporter from the China Times visited a number of car rental companies in Beijing, and in a car rental store in Tongzhou, Mr. Liu was choosing a model to rent, ready to take his family to play during the Spring Festival. "After a busy year, I finally had a vacation, so I thought about going out with my family. Mr. Liu said that it is difficult to buy tickets for travel during the Spring Festival, so it is better to rent a car, and you don't need to take a taxi to play anywhere, which is much more convenient.
It is precisely because of the convenience of travel that the car rental industry has shown a hot trend in recent years. According to data from the Ministry of Transport, since 2023, China's car rental orders have been rising, and the market continues to be hot at the beginning of the year and summer. Among them, leisure travel accounts for more than 50%, and 100-200 kilometers of short-distance leisure travel car rental shows a significant growth trend.
Wang Kun, an auto analyst, told reporters: "There are many car rental platforms and stores in the current market, and the prosperity of the car rental market has also made travel more convenient. This not only makes travel more convenient, but also saves consumers from the trouble of using cars such as maintenance and repair. ”
During the visit, the reporter learned that some stores began to receive reservations during the Spring Festival holiday in December, and some popular models have been fully rented. "If you want to rent a popular car during the holidays, you must book at least half a month in advance. The sales staff of Chengxin Car Rental Company said that since last year, there have been more consumers renting cars, and many models have been added to the store, and free car delivery services in the city can also be provided. "The more popular models are Buick GL8, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Lavida and other models. This year, we are also planning to increase investment and enrich the popular models in the store. ”
In the Zhichun Road store of Shenzhou Car Rental, the reporter found that the passenger flow increased significantly, and there were not a few customers who came to pick up the car one after another in the morning. With the increase in the number of customers before the holiday, in order to effectively protect users' self-driving travel, CAR has also implemented corresponding measures. The relevant person in charge of CAR told reporters that on the eve of the Spring Festival, CAR launched tens of thousands of new cars nationwide, involving 13 brands and 29 models, covering luxury, comfort, economy, SUV, MPV and other categories, and most of them are the latest models, close to the market and users.
In addition to product launches, according to the above-mentioned person in charge, CAR also strengthened the staffing and training of front-line personnel such as stores, operations, and customer service before the holiday, so as to meet the "big test" of the 2024 Spring Festival transportation guarantee with the best state, the most practical measures and the best service.
At the same time, the reporter learned that luxury cars have also become a popular model for leasing. During the Chinese New Year, Mr. Zhao decided to spend time in Sanya, and after buying a ticket, he rented a Porsche 718 on Ctrip. "It's more than 1,000 yuan a day, it's still acceptable, after all, it's going out to play, and it's mainly for enjoyment. ”
The person in charge of a luxury car rental company said: "Most of the customers who rent cars are young people, and they mainly choose models based on quality, and we can provide driver services in addition to luxury and ultra-luxury models, which is convenient for daily travel." ”
The person in charge of a luxury car supercar rental company in Sanya said that in recent years, as the "post-90s" have become the main consumer force, the car rental market has gradually diversified the models, "We are now mainly focusing on luxury and ultra-luxury car leasing, at least three days of rent." Rental cars are free of deposit, but Sesame Credit must be at least 700 points. ”
With the development of the times, the post-90s and post-00s generations have gradually become the main consumer force. According to CAR, the young people represented by the post-90s, post-95s and post-00s generations in the market pay more attention to experience, are keen on interaction, and pursue personalized services with "self-pleasing" as the core. The data shows that they are still the main force of car rental during the Spring Festival this year. These three age groups together accounted for nearly half of the bookings, showing strong spending power and willingness to spend.
Demand-driven** rises
It is worth mentioning that during the visit, the reporter noticed that on platforms such as eHi and Shenzhou, car rental ** climbed significantly during the Spring Festival. On the platform of Shenzhou Car Rental, taking the rental of a Nissan Xuanyi in Beijing as an example, the rental ** from February 6 to 7 is 248 yuan per day, the ** from Chinese New Year's Eve to the third day of the new year is 418 yuan per day, the ** from the fourth to the eighth day of the first month is 378 yuan per day, and the number after the ninth day of the first month is 238 yuan per day. For *** Shenzhou Car Rental customer service staff said that ** is dynamic, the store will adjust ** according to the inventory, and the demand during the Spring Festival is large, ** will produce corresponding changes.
Not only that, but the same goes for offline car rental stores. From the 28th of the lunar month to the eighth day of the first lunar month, it is the peak period for car rental, **every day is different, and the later the car is booked**, the higher. A car rental store manager told reporters that long-term rental customers will not have a change, but short-term car rentals, especially car rentals during holidays, will be raised, and 30% of the full price of the car rental will be paid as a deposit.
At another store, a salesperson staring at a computer processing orders said that there were two to three times as many economy models in the store during the holiday season as compared to the off-season. Taking Toyota Corolla as an example, the daily rent is about 300 yuan, and the company bears the basic insurance, but the cost of fuel, tolls, accidents and other expenses need to be borne by the customer.
Car rental *** also shows the hotness of the market from the side, which also allows more companies to join the industry. According to Tianyancha data, there are currently 107 car rental related enterprises in China640,000. From 2021 to 2023, the number of registered car rental-related enterprises in China will be 19970,000, 3260,000, 2980,000. From the perspective of the city, Shanghai has 5590,000 car rental-related companies, ranking first. Beijing and Shenzhen are now 4360,000, 3850,000 car rental-related companies, ranking among the top three. Since then, it has been Guangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin and other places.
In order to regulate car rental enterprises, the state has also issued a series of policies for the car rental industry and supporting infrastructure construction. For example, the "Measures for the Management of Small and Micro Bus Leasing and Operation Services" and the "Guidelines for Promoting Automobile Consumption in the Business Field". The reporter learned that in the next step, the Ministry of Transport will strengthen industry supervision, accelerate the implementation of the filing system, strictly implement the leasing safety management system, and effectively standardize the leasing operation. At the same time, it will strengthen the monitoring of the operation of the industry and promote the healthy development of the car rental industry.
With the intervention of policies, the car rental industry will also become more and more standardized, which is a good thing for consumers. Wang Kun said that when consumers rent a car on holidays, try to choose a large business with a good reputation, and do not choose some businesses that are too low because of the market, which is far below the market range is likely to hide the vehicle scratches, and finally ask the customer to compensate when returning the car. "When picking up the car, you should carefully check the condition of the car, and if there is a problem, you should communicate with the platform or the merchant in time. ”
Editor-in-charge: Li Yanan Editor-in-chief: Yu Jianping.