The car rental industry is experiencing a major lift, fueled by the growing stability of global tourism, a massive increase in international travelers, and improving income levels across the globe. In a report by ReportLinker, the global car rental industry is forecasted to reach an estimated $145.6 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 6.7% from 2021 to 2027.

This strong, positive outlook for the industry is a breath of fresh air for car rental companies after a global pandemic heavily affected operations and production. Today, the industry is driven by a strong demand for travel, with car rental companies seeing improvements in production and vehicle availability according to Forbes.

In an industry that continuously evolves, car rental companies must be quick to adapt to the many changes, the traveler’s growing demands, the growing competition, and technological advances to stay ahead of the race. The industry is slowly getting back on track on a road to recovery; however, there are several challenges car rental companies need to face.

Challenge #1: Managing inventory

Securing flights may prove to be more difficult, making travelers opt for car rental services. This creates a significant gap between supply and demand – meaning car rental companies must manage their inventory efficiently to ensure they have enough vehicles available to meet demand while also avoiding having too many cars sitting idle, which can result in higher costs.

Challenge #2: Changing consumer preferences

Consumer preferences have been shifting towards more sustainable and eco-friendly modes of transportation, such as electric cars, which presents a challenge for traditional car rental companies.

Challenge #3: Rising fuel and maintenance costs

2022 was a tough year as fuel prices became volatile and unpredictable. Car rental companies may need to brace themselves a little longer: according to Reuters, high fuel prices may persist into 2023. The rising maintenance costs accompanied skyrocketing fuel prices put car rental companies at risk of experiencing profit losses and decrease in revenue.

Challenge #4: Safety and liability concerns, as well as regulatory challenges

Car rental companies are responsible for the safety and maintenance of their vehicles, as well as ensuring that their customers are properly licensed and insured. This can create liability concerns for the companies. Furthermore, the industry is subject to various regulations, including licensing requirements, taxes, and fees. Keeping up with these regulations can be challenging, time-consuming, and costly for companies.

Challenge #5: Technological disruption

The rise of digital technologies has disrupted traditional car rental models, putting the pressure on traditional car rental companies to accelerate their digital transformation efforts.

Go Above and Beyond with Teleperformance

As a global leader in outsourced digital integrated business services, Teleperformance has been a trusted partner of the world’s most recognized brands. In the travel and hospitality industry, we continue to help our clients simplify the travel process, drive efficiency, and deliver the right support to customers.

Here’s a brief look at Teleperformance’s capabilities that can help car rental companies gain a competitive advantage:

 
Simplified bookings and reservations: Handle incoming calls and online inquiries with efficiency and accuracy. Elevate the customer experience by providing customers with accurate information about rental options, availability, pricing, and promotions. This can help increase bookings and reservations.

Enhanced omnichannel customer support: Offer simpler, faster, and safer interactions throughout the customer journey. At Teleperformance, we help our clients provide support to their customers before, during, and after their rental, and answer questions about policies, procedures, and services. This improves customer satisfaction and reduces the number of complaints or issues.

Effective sales and upselling: Promote additional services or upgrades, such as insurance, GPS, or fuel packages, to increase revenue and provide customers with added value.

High-tech, high-touch technical support: Teleperformance has helped our clients strengthen traveler loyalty through seamless experiences powered by our high-tech, high-touch approach that harnesses the best of technology and human empathy. Assist customers with technical issues, such as troubleshooting problems with rental cars or booking systems. This can help reduce the number of disruptions and improve the overall customer experience.

Supplier support and onboarding: Teleperformance has developed an AI-powered digital onboarding solution that leverages machine learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing capabilities to automate the transcription for onboarding documents and images. This eliminates repetitive tasks and transforms inefficient and manual processes into digitalized and intelligent operations in order to support suppliers’ processes. Our solution can read up to 100 languages and reduce operational resources by +50%.

This can help in changing the face of end-to-end onboarding and support services for car rental companies.

Accurate feedback and insights: Collect feedback from customers and turn data into actionable insights. These insights can pinpoint areas for improvement, such as customer preferences, product or service issues, and operational inefficiencies.

Soar above the changing expectations of a competitive industry! Make every travel experience simpler, faster, and safer with a trusted partner that can steer you to the right direction. Contact Teleperformance today!