Competition hots up among car rental companies
Competition among car rental firms in Poland is hotting up as local and international companies push for a share of the market by offering discount prices and premium services. While members of global car rental chains tend to sell themselves on their international reputations, domestic car rental firms often offer the biggest discounts to customers.
Major contracts for both local and international car rental firms generally involve deals with travel agencies and participation in "frequent traveler" programs. But some companies have devised their own deals for customers; Hertz, with its Hertz No. 1 Club Gold or Avis with its President's Club Card are among them.
Most international chains work on the idea that when a global corporation signs a contract with a car rental company, the contract is valid worldwide. "The (global) system is the most important thing," said Ryszard Walaszek, trade director at Filkar, a National Car Rental licensee. Out of the 16 car rental companies operating in Poland that are present on the WBJ's List, five are licensees or members of international car rental networks.
Hertz, Avis and Europcar are all linked to a worldwide network. "Our headquarters in Paris does a part of the business for us," said Miroslaw Jasek, from Europcar Inter Best 97, the Europcar licensee. Jasek said there were clear advantages for a global company when compared with local car rentals. If a contract is signed with the headquarters of a globally operating company, the employee of the company will always choose a car in the given rental company, no matter whether in Poland, Brazil or Japan. Due to such internationally binding contracts, car rentals linked to global networks already have a certain client base at the beginning of their operations.
But global networks are not everything. Every company needs to attract local clients, and so price and service become important aspects of the business. "In every company the cars are the same, or are of a similar standard," Jasek said. Marketing strategies are based on these two factors since special promotions are less common. "Renting cars is a specific kind of activity; no promotions in the regular meaning of the word such as lotteries or half-priced rentals are provided," Sklodowski said. ANN Rent A Car (Poland) may be an exception, however, with its competition to give away a car to one of its first 1,000 clients this year.
The availability of the global network on the local market is also important to many customers, Jasek said. He added that clients want to be able to rent cars and receive services in as many cities as possible, something that multinational companies will be able to offer by opening more offices throughout the country. Europcar Inter Best 97 as well as Jupol-Car (an Avis licensee) each have 17 offices in Poland. Hertz, Filkar and ANN are other companies whose number of offices exceeds 10.
Good service for the customer means renting car in good condition, Walaszek said. He also said the customer should be told about regulations that apply to anyone renting a car and informed about the given country's road rules. Other examples of good service are the short time needed to exchange and replace a car in the event of an accident, Jasek said.
Meanwhile, travel agencies bring in customers with packages that include discounted car rentals and frequent traveler programs. Filkar and Europcar Inter Best 97, both linked with international car rental companies, are among the firms that offer such discounts. Avis has an agreement with LOT Polish Airlines' Voyager program, where a customer receives special "fly and drive" prices and has the right to a discount of 10-30% off the company's regular rates, said Michal Sklodowski, sales coordinator at Jupol-Car.
Local companies such as Five Rent a Car are typical of domestic firms competing through price cuts, said Krzysztof Natur, the company's marketing specialist. However, discounts are only offered to those renting cars at least "several" times, Natur said. Car rental prices at Five run zl. 165-zl. 460 a day while Filkar charges zl. 250-zl. 490 per day.
Other ways of attracting and keeping customers include belonging to Hertz's #1 Club Gold, which according to Katarzyna Mos, the commercial director at Hertz, is not an average car rental service. Club Gold cars are parked in a special parking lot with that day's newspaper on the front seat and the keys already in the ignition. As part of membership in the program, clients doesn't have to face a mountain of paperwork every time they rent a car they only fill out one form on joining the club and that's all, Mos said. Payment for the car is simply deducted from the client's account later, she added.
Avis also offers special membership cards and services for its customers. Avis Express Preferred, for example, allows a customer to avoid the paperwork formalities and receive a car within five minutes of showing up at Avis' office, Sklodowski said. Avis also has a special offer for its most valued customers the President's Club Card, he said. Although it's not possible to apply for the card, it is given to the company's best clients, usually in the form of a surprise, Sklodowski said. The card allows clients to receive bigger discounts and faster deliveries of cars by Avis to the customer, he added.
