Renting continues to grow and everything seems to indicate that it will exceed pre-pandemic figures this year. What’s more, both the live fleet and the number of clients have increased so far this year, when compared to the same period of the previous year.
Now, the progression of individual clients (made up of self-employed people and individuals) has lost a bit of share. And, according to figures from Renting Finders, a rental vehicle marketplace, lSpaniards who choose renting spend 415 euros, on average, in the first half of the year.
“Interest rates are impacting vehicle rental rates, which is causing a brake on the sector’s potential,” acknowledges Arturo Álvarez, CEO of Renting Finders. “We will continue to suffer interest rates in 2024, but I believe that, by having a generalized effect on the economy, it will favor lower sales prices of new vehicles, allowing prices to be reduced,” he predicts.
At the moment, the most requested term to contract a lease is 60 installments with a maximum mileage of 10,000 kilometers per year. Thus, the lowest fee registered on the website is 256 euros/month for 10,000 km over 60 months and corresponds to a Hyundai i10 1.0 MPi Essence. On the opposite side, A Maserati Grecale GT L4 MHEV AWD is the vehicle purchased by a customer with the highest installment of 1,649 euros for 10,000 km over 60 months.
Regarding the customer profile, the website registers that individuals are slightly below companies and self-employed people who purchase a rental on the platform. Among individuals, those who perform the most operations are men between 40 and 50 years oldwhile in the group of companies and self-employed workers, small and medium-sized companies predominate.
“Customers will demand more products at low prices and with flexibility and brand new car is no longer something fundamental for them. That’s why I think we’re going to see much more second-hand and pre-owned leasing as long as we manage to offer lower prices than when hiring new vehicles for a long period of time,” says Álvarez.
