Car rental consumer trends in France 2016

Conducted by the French Car Rental Syndicate CNPA, the study reflects 25,000 interviews run over 2016. Here are some highlights.

MARKET SHRUNK BY -13% DUE TO LOSS OF DRIVING LICENCE

Overall, the French car rental market gets similar renting specificities over years. Anyhow, an interesting factor can be pointed out: the overall potential market has shrunk by -13% due to the absence of driving license or lost (police), in the progression of +14%.

FIRST EXPERIENCE IN CAR RENTAL

In general, 50% of interviewed persons have never rented before and for the one that did (70%), it was under constraints (moving, car replacement, or professional journey). On the leisure part (22%), the main motivation was to get a bigger car with more seats or because of a long road trip.

THE END OF CAR OWNERSHIP?

The persons, who do not have a car at all and therefore need one once a while, are only 7%. If youngsters (aged 18-24) represent around a third of this type of driver, 20% of the entire population who rented declared that using a car rental is financially cheaper than holding one personally. It is a good alternative to holding his own car especially in a city or a suburb.

MASS MARKET RETAIL BRANDS TENDS TO BECOME MAJOR PLAYER

38% booked via internet but only 10% via mobile, showing a stable proportion over the last four years. Warning: an important share of rentals were made at the retail counters as most French retail stores (Carrefour, Leclerc, Systeme U, etc) offer some cars and trucks to rent at a competitive price. This trend boosted the overall ratio of walk-in transactions (no reservation) from 18 to 30% over three years.

64% of interviewed people declared having booked via the brand site of the rental operator and only 10% via a broker. On the WeYield’s piloting web application Cocktail RM, the proportion is similar (from 10 to 14% depending on the French cities observed).

ADVANCE BOOKING: 2/3 FROM 1 TO 7 DAYS BEFORE RENTING

In terms of reservation anticipation on the French market, 35% of interviewed population booked one day prior to starting their rental and 44% from two to seven days before. This trend remains stable since 2012.

ANY NEW MOBILITY BEHAVIOR?

In a new mobility environment, people who rented were only 15% interested in co-driving (like provided by the French unicorn Bla-Bla-Car). However, this ratio increased to 34% over the population aged from 18-24. The other option to get a car hire from a regular brand is also challenged by a recent new habit to rent on a peer-to-peer basis. For the 64% who did it last year, the main reason is the significant cost saving vs the professional ones. And 55% trusted (+3% vs 2015) the car hired to a fellow even though, only 44% are willing to offer their own car for rent.

What about your own country? Do you observe the same trends? Do you record the same figures? Feel free to comment.

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