Auto Rental News, January 2019

2 Fact Book 2019 AUTO RENTAL NEWS E D I T O R S C O R N E R FIVE WAYS THE CONNECTED CAR WILL BENEFIT CAR RENTAL From bypassing the rental counter to new ancillary sales opportunities a completely connected rental fleet will transform the traditional rental model And it cant come soon enough D DATA IS THE NEW CURRENCY AND DERIVING ACTIONable data from vehicles is now critical for any transportation service provider The connected car is the gateway For car rental what does connected mean Well save a discussion of the greater vision of vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to everything for the future For now were talking about technology that tracks vehicles relays vehicle telemetry and allows remote access to them Connected technology is essential to the carsharing process and has been available for years via telematics However the great majority of devices are still installed manually on the car rental lot a barrier to mass implementation When we get to the point where entire rental fleets are connected car rental companies will look to harness this data in ways that will transform the traditional rental model Connected cars have the potential to Bypass the rental counter Yes counter bypass is available today through loyalty programs and as standard practice for some boutique brands However a universally connected rental fleet will allow the traditional model to finally evolve to where most customers will book through an app and interact with the counter only if needed Connectivity will also drive more opportunities for on demand rentals This doesnt necessarily signify carsharing will replace traditional rental model rather it allows rental companies to create a more seamless experience and create partnerships to place fleet dynamically based on demand Increase utilization and revenue per unit Knowing the locations of rental cars helps managers control any situation with greater precision just ask operators how GPS tracking saved countless rental days merely by identifying a rental car in a police impound yard When all cars are connected fleet movements can be studied over time for more precise daily monthly and seasonal fleet planning Increasing overall utilization from say 80 to 84 will drive tangible results to the bottom line Drive new ancillary sales opportunities Some worry that bypassing the rental counter would hurt ancillary sales True pitching loss damage waiver in person would move to a mobile booking which may erode a percentage of sales Yet bookings on a branded app a necessity for carsharing are not subject to online matrixes with competing brands and dont require a pound of flesh in OTA booking fees Moreover understanding rental car movements in conjunction with customer preferences will produce geolocated sales opportunities in the form of in vehicle notifications and discounts to renters Join the MaaS ecosystem Car ownership will gradually evolve to Mobility as a Service MaaS which allows access to multiple modes ride hailing carsharing scooter rentals and public transportation on a single app Rental cars need to be connected and capable of remote access to plug seamlessly into this ecosystem Partner with autonomous tech players This benefit will manifest further down the road but the groundwork must be laid today Autonomous vehicle developers such as Uber Alphabets Waymo Fords Argo AI and GMs Cruise understand that partnerships are essential to be the service providers of the future For car rental companies to connect to this chain the process to rent a car needs to become more efficient and seamless This starts with a connected fleet When does this all come together The process will accelerate when rental companies can have the ability to connect its entire fleet at the factory Avis intends its entire fleet to be connected by 2020 If that happens competitors wont be far behind Outside of airports and urban areas this sea change doesnt need to happen as quickly Yet for the car rental industry to best poise itself as transportation providers of the future the connected car cant come soon enough BY CHRIS BROWN