Renting a car this summer will cost a little less than last year. But the bill will continue to be high if we compare it with 2019. These are the lessons of the latest study* of the Carigami comparator for the period from July 1 to August 30. Specifically, the average cost of a week of summer rental “ascends to 332 euros, or -10% compared to 2022, but still +27% compared to 2019”, we learn.
Biarritz, Nice, Bordeaux: the most expensive cities to rent a car
Obviously, the prices are far from being homogeneous according to the cities. If you go to Biarritz, it will cost you 435 euros for a week’s rental, the highest rate observed by Carigami. It is true that this price is down 14% in one year, but it is 69% higher than in 2019.
Same trend for Nice where the rental week trades on average at 429 euros, a decrease of 14% in one year but the increase is 79% compared to 2019. Bordeaux is the third most expensive city to rent a car with 425 euros per week (-1% in one year but +31% compared to 2019).
It is in Figari, in Corsica, that the three-year jump is the most impressive with an increase of 108% to 412 euros per week. However, the price is down 4% in a year.
Disparate price developments
The general fall in prices is not uniform throughout France, for various reasons. “The first refers to car fleets. Rental companies, impacted for several years by the shortage of electronic components (-40% of cars on the market in 2021), are gradually rebuilding their car offer”, explains Carigami.
“The second reason is the uneven demand at the level of French destinations. The high season is slow to start and Carigami has noticed a drop, even a stagnation in prices in certain French cities such as Lille, Mulhouse and Rennes”, continues the comparator.
Lille and Mulhouse, the least expensive cities
According to the comparator, it is in Lille where renting a car this summer will be the cheapest with 277 euros per week (-5% in one year and +16% compared to 2019).
The northern city is ahead of Mulhouse (290 euros, -2% in one year and +45% compared to 2019) and Rennes, which shows -1% in one year and +31% in three years, at 316 euros per week. .
Carigami also highlights that Ajaccio and Bastia rank high in the top 10 least expensive cities in France (with 337 and 348 euros per week for rent respectively and annual reductions of 24 and 15%).
A rather unprecedented situation that can be explained by several factors. “Such low fares are explained by the increase in air fares (+25% increase in fares, compared to 2022).” That is, the destination is less chosen by vacationers, so rental prices are falling.
still some uncertainties
Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen. It seems that the French are delaying their reservations. This could lead to higher prices in the coming weeks as demand increases. Especially since rental car stocks remain low.
“Inflation and strikes linked to the pension reform are also factors that delay the preparation of the summer holidays. Currently, the comparator observes a rebound in reservations since mid-April, while reservations started earlier in previous years,” Carigami analyzes.
*: Partner of 6 international rental companies and 7 brokers, Carigami.fr references, evaluates and compares the offers of 40,000 agencies for more than 170 destinations worldwide.
Source: BFM TV
