The next car you hire is likely to be a used model.
Daily rental companies have found there’s a shortage of new cars reaching market because manufacturers are struggling with output due to the new emissions requirements of the latest exhaust test, or WLTP programme.
Typically, they are purchasing batches of small-medium sized cars that are less than six months old, helping to keep values for these vehicles firm, said the Vehicle Remarketing Association.
Glenn Sturley, chair at the VRA, said, “We have seen a number of manufacturers pull back quite significantly from the rental sector in the last year, especially some of those who have supplied superminis in larger volumes. Also, even those who continue to push larger numbers of cars into the sector are often suffering from supply issues.
“This means that simply to meet their requirement for vehicles, some rental companies are having to look beyond traditional sources and have been entering the nearly-new sector instead, buying batches of cars to meet their needs, our members are reporting.
“This is something that happens periodically but there does seem to be at quite a high level at the moment and appears to be helping to maintain values in this part of the market, especially when it comes to superminis and city cars, with the latter doing especially well.”
It is also possible the rental car will have higher than expected mileage from previous loans as that is another way to meet customer demand when replacements are in short supply.