Economic Downturn could be good for the Car Rental business

The head of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) operations for Dollar Thrifty Automobile Group has said that more people are choosing to rent after being refused bank loans to buy cars.
Marwan al Mulla said today: “It’s very difficult to get car loans so people are doing more long-term leases now.
“All our leasing customers are renewing their contracts with us. It’s a good, competitive option for them. We are doing well and are expecting a lot of growth.”

Dollar Thrifty Automobile Group, which was established in the UAE five years ago, is now opening three more Dollar Rent A Car branches.

Once these new branches, two in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi, are operational, there will be 21 branches in total throughout the UAE. All this is taking place at a time when many businesses are scaling back.
Marwan al Mulla continued to say that his company anticipates a 13 per cent increase in business this year, with 70 per cent of its clients taking out long-term leases.

A spokeswoman for National Car Rentals in Abu Dhabi also said she has seen an increase in customers inquiring about renting vehicles after being turned down for bank loans. However, the news was not all rosy, especially for companies which rely on long term car rentals.



Katja Oldenburg said: “People just don’t want any kind of financial commitment. “Even those people who have jobs don’t know how safe they are, so instead of opting for the cheaper option of a longer-term lease over two or three years, they are taking it on a month-to-month basis.”

“Couples here who maybe would have each had a car before are now sharing vehicles,” she added.
“People will walk rather than take the car or they won’t take that weekend trip.”
Meanwhile Eurostar Rent-A-Car sales manager for Abu Dhabi, Sam Bassam, said: “Day-to-day rentals have not really gone down recently but the long-term rentals have been hit.”



“In general, business is a lot quieter at the moment. People just don’t want to spend money and don’t want the financial commitments because they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” he added.
But Rhino Car Hire Dubai has been one of the companies to thrive despite the crisis with sales steadily increasing on a day-to-day basis.

Director of Sales Sam Bushell said: “Every day brings better and better news for Rhino Car Hire.
“To date our strongest market performance has been in the huge economies of India and America and this surely bodes well for the future.”