The SNCF controllers’ strike is a boost to car rental companies on the internet. To celebrate Christmas or New Year, the French are looking for accessible and efficient services as an emergency solution.
Some online platforms, OuiCar, Getaround or Roadstr, specialize in car sharing with rental between individuals. Others, like Carlili, offer a last-minute service delivering vehicles to your home. They are all taken by those who do not want or cannot access other mobility solutions to replace their canceled train.
Strong increase since Tuesday
The advantage of these new rental companies over traditional rental companies is a fleet of several tens of thousands of accessible vehicles close to home, in all cities in France, in almost all categories and also ease of access. With a few clicks, you can book a car close to home.
If the urgency caused by the cancellation of the trains a few days before Christmas Eve attracts these new customers, the prices offered and the reimbursement of the tickets by the SNCF end up convincing customers. A rental from December 23 to 25 starts at about 200 euros for a 5-seater saloon, the most demanded category at the moment.
At OuiCar, the historic rental company created in 2012 by Marion Carrette, sold in 2015 to SNCF and then sold last June to the American Turo, activity doubled in a single day.
The fever of high-end electric models
If small urban cars are usually the most in demand, now it is the 5-seater sedans, but also vans and utility vehicles that are looking for families or groups of friends who want to celebrate Christmas Eve. And despite the park available, the ads are beginning to be scarce.
The activity is such that even rental companies specializing in exceptional cars are seeing an extraordinary situation. Customers are looking for premium electric vehicles capable of racking up miles without spending anything on fuel.
In fact, some customers have not hesitated to opt for premium models since the announcement of the 200% refund of canceled train tickets.
“We have no vehicles that match your search”
The fever, which mainly affects Ile-de-France, also and of course benefits traditional rental companies, which are almost all full. On the Avis site, not a single vehicle is available in Paris between December 23 and 25. At Hertz you can only find Tesla Model 3 at more than 400 euros per day and at Sixt the message that appears after a search is clear: “We have no vehicles available that match your search. Can you choose another date or another place?”
Source: BFM TV
