Faced with a strong demand, several specialists give their advice to avoid paying the high price.
As the Christmas holidays begin this Friday evening, rental cars are already being taken by storm by the French who wish to reach their holiday resort. So much so that demand is catching up with supply, reducing the number of cars available. Prices are soaring, in parallel.
Professionals are unanimous: demand has been on the rise for several weeks. “We observe a 20% increase for the two weeks of the end of the year, compared to the first half of December“, mentions the Carrefour group. The same is true for the Getaround rental platform, which is seeing increased demand in “the Paris region, the west of France or even to Perpignan“. The website specializing in car sharingexpected this increase and forecasts 90% of cars reservedfor this period, specifies the communication manager, Matthieu Bouchaud.
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This strong demand partly explains an increase in rental prices, which have soared by 27% compared to the end of November and by 18% compared to the 2021 Christmas holidays. In addition, customers are suffering from a “very low production of new cars due to a shortage of semiconductors“says Pierre Feisthauer, development manager at Carigami, a comparative vehicle rental platform. “Large retailers must renew their fleet regularly, generally twice a year“, he completes. What further stretch the offer.
This year, it will take an average of 492 euros for a one-week rental according to the platform, which has looked at the rates offered by professional rental companies. “At the end of November, this price was 405 euros and 422 euros during the Christmas holidays last year“says Carigami. Prices then differ according to location, ranging from 441 euros in Lyon, to 548 euros in Paris and up to 729 euros in Marseille. This last citydoes not have a homogeneous market and is directly dependent on car deliveriesexplains Pierre Feisthauer. Last year, Nice was in the same situation, at 513 euros per week, against 463 euros this year“, he bids. In order for the market to stabilize, we must therefore wait to receive new vehicles. “The situation will improve in 2023“, reports the development manager.
Regardless of the city of departure, Carrefour notes that most “rental durations chosen are weekly and 14-day packages, as well as weekend packages“. Those are “light vehicles that are preferred by most customers“, such as small city cars, sedans, SUVs, family and electric cars. In detail, Getaround observes more rentals of Renault Talisman or even Peugeot 508.
Go ahead
If you want to find a vehicle in the coming weeks, all the players are unanimous: “You have to do it well in advance. To be sure to get a vehicle for the 2023 summer holidays, you can watch now“, even advises Pierre Feisthauer. On Getaround, Matthieu Bouchaud recommends using filters in his search, especially if you need additional accessories. “This is one of the advantages of car sharing, baby seats, roof boxes or snow tires are not charged in addition to the rental price.“, he explains.
And if you own a vehicle, it’s not too late to rent it out. “You will have a lot of luck finding customers and this can generate a little extra income.“, notes Matthieu Bouchaud. Enough to feed the gift budget or have fun during the New Year’s Eve meal.