Wheels-for-hire business finds niche
Rental car agencies are feeding that demand with most companies catering to business people. Intercar says 50% of its clients are business people and Yossa Rent A Car estimates about the same. Among the multinationals, Europcar has a 60% business clientele while Avis, which refused to disclose figures, said the majority of its clients were business people.
Multinationals dominate the rent-a-car business in Warsaw. Out of the eight rental car agencies in Warsaw which responded to the WBJ's survey, the top three were multinational companies. (Editor's note: several large firms failed to respond to our questionnaire by deadline.)
According to Grzegorz Wendynski, Europcar general manager, several key differences divide the Polish rental car market into two categories: major multinationals like Europcar Interrent, Avis and Hertz, and domestically-grown companies. The service and quality of Polish companies is not as good as the multinationals, he says. And a worldwide reservation system and name recognition also give international firms a sharper edge over the Polish competition. But comparing the Polish firms to the multinationals isn't an easy task and newcomers to Poland aren't aware of the local companies at all, he says.
Tomasz Kaminski, general manager of Polish agency Yossa Rent A Car, says his fleet is much smaller than the multinationals, but he says he is trying to provide the best service he can. New cars and a very high professional standard are the key to making his business better, he says. Also he has lower prices than Hertz and Avis. Yossa Rent a Car charges between DM 139-265 ($100-192) per day whereas Hertz charges between DM 124-389 ($89-281) per day and Avis charges DM 280 ($202) per day.
Overall the rental car business is expensive here compared to the United States, where the daily rate can be less than $25. But Jolanta Chelmecka, vice president of Avis Poland, defends the rates. Taxes are extremely high and so is insurance, she says. So rental car prices are "how it should be in a country where you have very high prices." Also the rental car business in Poland can be unpredictable, with frequent car thefts and sudden changes in legislation. Over one weekend the excise tax suddenly rose by 15% and Avis had to pay up.
But it's not surprising that prices are so expensive - car theft looms as a major threat. "It's a very big problem," says Chelmecka. But it's not just agencies that are affected, she says. "It's a big problem in the whole country." Chelmecka wouldn't disclose how many cars had been stolen from Avis. Yossa Rent A Car's Kaminski says that car theft is a big problem for his company. Seven cars have been stolen from the company in the last six months, and "we have only 30 cars, so that's 20% of the fleet," he says. Intercar estimates that 10 have been stolen in the past three years. Europcar officials say that in the past four years eight cars have been stolen.
Multinationals dominate the rent-a-car business in Warsaw. Out of the eight rental car agencies in Warsaw which responded to the WBJ's survey, the top three were multinational companies. (Editor's note: several large firms failed to respond to our questionnaire by deadline.)
According to Grzegorz Wendynski, Europcar general manager, several key differences divide the Polish rental car market into two categories: major multinationals like Europcar Interrent, Avis and Hertz, and domestically-grown companies. The service and quality of Polish companies is not as good as the multinationals, he says. And a worldwide reservation system and name recognition also give international firms a sharper edge over the Polish competition. But comparing the Polish firms to the multinationals isn't an easy task and newcomers to Poland aren't aware of the local companies at all, he says.
Tomasz Kaminski, general manager of Polish agency Yossa Rent A Car, says his fleet is much smaller than the multinationals, but he says he is trying to provide the best service he can. New cars and a very high professional standard are the key to making his business better, he says. Also he has lower prices than Hertz and Avis. Yossa Rent a Car charges between DM 139-265 ($100-192) per day whereas Hertz charges between DM 124-389 ($89-281) per day and Avis charges DM 280 ($202) per day.
Overall the rental car business is expensive here compared to the United States, where the daily rate can be less than $25. But Jolanta Chelmecka, vice president of Avis Poland, defends the rates. Taxes are extremely high and so is insurance, she says. So rental car prices are "how it should be in a country where you have very high prices." Also the rental car business in Poland can be unpredictable, with frequent car thefts and sudden changes in legislation. Over one weekend the excise tax suddenly rose by 15% and Avis had to pay up.
But it's not surprising that prices are so expensive - car theft looms as a major threat. "It's a very big problem," says Chelmecka. But it's not just agencies that are affected, she says. "It's a big problem in the whole country." Chelmecka wouldn't disclose how many cars had been stolen from Avis. Yossa Rent A Car's Kaminski says that car theft is a big problem for his company. Seven cars have been stolen from the company in the last six months, and "we have only 30 cars, so that's 20% of the fleet," he says. Intercar estimates that 10 have been stolen in the past three years. Europcar officials say that in the past four years eight cars have been stolen.
