Self-drive car rental service is sluggish during Tet

A year of being affected bypandemic, Mr. NVT - the owner of a self-drive car rental facility in Quang Trung ward, Vinh city decided to open during Tet with the hope that the number of customers would increase. However, the situation is not better even though he has implemented many incentives for renters.

Many self-driving cars are always "waiting for customers" during Tet this year. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Mr. T shared: "Last year during Tet, all 18 cars of my facility were rented out. Since mid-December, people have called to book cars, but this year, business has been sluggish. Before Tet 30, we were only able to rent 8 cars, today2nd day of TetThere are still 10 cars in the garage waiting for customers..."

Not only Mr. T but this is the common situation of many self-drive car rental establishments during Tet this year, most car owners said that this year's rental capacity has decreased by 70% compared to previous years. The image of "cars waiting for customers" appears a lot on the roads and parking lots.

Some car rental establishments are open during Tet but have very few customers. Photo: Nguyen Chau

The reason why car rental services have become the most sluggish in recent years is mainly due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. The demand for spring travel, Tet holiday, and visiting relatives at the beginning of the year has decreased sharply because people are afraid of the epidemic. In addition, this year many festivals have been suspended to prevent the epidemic, so people are not interested in renting cars to participate.

Not to mention that car rental is a service with quite high costs, especially long-term rental (usually from 2 - 5 million VND). In the context of people's income being heavily affected in 2020, many people have chosen less expensive means of transport such as motorbikes, buses or shared cars for spring travel.

Shuttle buses and shared buses are chosen by many people during this year's Tet holiday. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Faced with the sluggish situation, car rental establishments have implemented many solutions to save the situation. Among them, reducing rental prices is commonly applied. Currently, car rental prices in Vinh City during Tet range from 400,000 - 1.2 million VND/day depending on the car model and number of seats. This price has decreased by about 200,000 VND/day compared to last year's Tet. In addition, customers who rent early or rent for a long time during Tet will also receive more preferential prices.

In addition to offering incentives to renters, car rental establishments are now providing disinfectants and sanitizers to give customers peace of mind when renting cars during the pandemic. Many establishments are also increasing advertising on social networking sites to attract customers and avoid sluggish sales.