After a very complicated confinement, holidays are an opportunity for car rental companies to see their turnover increase significantly. The French prefer the car for the summer, and this is also felt on rentals between individuals. 

After the coronavirus crisis, car rental companies are finding new colors with this new big weekend of vacation departures. While they lost 90% of their turnover during confinement, this renewed activity is welcomed with open arms, especially since it is very marked. 

An average increase of 40% at Europcar

At Europcar, for example, rentals for French customers are up 40% on average. This phenomenon is particularly visible on mid-range models such as the Golf, the Captur or the Mégane. And it's not the only change brought about by this post-containment vacation. If usually the French rented a vehicle at the station or at the airport, this year it is from their sofa that everything is played out. Not to mention that demand explodes from Paris. A figure which is certainly not unrelated to the reductions in reservations on the side of the SNCF, which records 20% fewer travelers in the territory.  

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More rentals between individuals

But this demand for Franco-French rentals is also felt between individuals. Ouicar thus recorded an increase of 50% over one year. "There are geographical points where it begins to be tense" slides even at the microphone of Europe 1 Benoit Sureau, general manager of Ouicar. "For example, in Corsica our park is starting to be relatively scarce", he explains without hiding other points of tension "around Marseille or some other cities in the region". But he assures him, "on the rest of the territory, to date, it's still going".

Franco-French demand that does not make up for the absence of foreign tourists

Although these figures are enough to give a little smile to a bruised industry, they are not enough to compensate for the absence of international customers. For example, the lessor Avis accuses the blow and suffers an overall decline in its turnover of 20%. Especially since it is the Americans, the Chinese or the Australians who generally reserve very large automatic vehicles, which are the most expensive. It is therefore mechanically that their absence weighs heavily on activity.