Features
24 Oct 17

Car rental market to grow at 6.6% per year until 2027

The global Car Rental Services Market is predicted to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6% over the next decade. This rapid and sustained growth will be driven by the introduction of new business models, says a forecast by Future Market Insights (FMI). 

Market analysts FMI have just published a report titled 'Car Rental Services Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027)'. The report provides insight into car rental market segments based on end use, customer type, sector, booking type and car type. 

Business segment 
Some of the key players in the Car Rental Market at the global level include Enterprise, Hertz, Avis Budget, Europcar, Carzonrent India, Sixt, Al-Futtaim, Localiza, Eco and GlobalCARS.

The two main customer segments examined by the report are business and leisure. The latter segment is likely to continue dominating the car rental market as a whole, due to the continued expansion of global tourism, rise of disposable income and improvements in rental service infrastructure. The leisure segment will grow at a higher CAGR (+7.8%) over the forecast period than the business segment (+4.3%).

Online booking
The FMI report also segments the global Car Rental Market by booking type, distinguishing between offline access, mobile apps and (other) internet access. In 2016, offline access accounted for approximately 68% of the entire Car Rental Market value. 

Remarkably, even though online bookings are growing thanks to the development of mobile apps and IT advancements, offline access is projected to remain the bigger revenue generator. 

On-Airport rentals
Segmenting for end use divides the Car Rental Market in Intercity, Intracity, On-Airport and Other uses. Of these, the On-Airport segment has the highest predicted CAGR, of +7.3%. 

A strong contributing factor here is the fast increase in air travel, caused by a drop in average ticket prices. Second-highest growth segment is projected to be Intercity (+5.3%).

Asia/Pacific growth
Segmenting the global Car Rental Market per region, FMI forecasts that North America will still take the lion's share of the global market by 2027 – 45.9% of total revenue, to be exact. In 10 years' time, Europe will account for only 11% of the global Car Rental Market, the report predicts. 

The biggest growth potential is in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan); with 17.5% global market share in 2027, but good prospects to grow strongly in the medium term – to the extent that APEJ will be the critical region for the global Car Rental Market, FMI says. Growth is also predicted for Latin America, Japan and the Middle East for the forecast period. 

Image: Shutterstock

Authored by: Frank Jacobs