THE weak rand is expected
to result in higher car-rental
rates, members of the
industry have warned.
Commenting recently
on the latest Tourism
Business Index released
by the Tourism Business
Council of South Africa,
Marc Corcoran, president
of the Southern African
Vehicle Rental and Leasing
Association, said although
overall performance of
the industry had been
good over the holiday
period, the industry would
face a difficult operating
climate this year as the
depreciation of the rand
would impact on new
vehicle pricing.
Deon Ragunath, gm
operations at Hertz Rent a
Car, and Martin Lydall, cco
at Europcar South Africa,
said the current rand/US
dollar exchange rate had
resulted in a vehicle price
and interest rate increase.
Martin said while the
increase in Europcar’s rental
costs would depend on
contracts and forecasted
demand growth, the car
rental company was
expecting an average 10%
increase to be implemented
across the board.
“General economic
pressures have had an
increasingly negative
impact on cost, and rising
operational and accident
costs have increased the
cost base dramatically. The
depreciation of the rand
has added up to 20% to our
cost base,” said Mark.
Weak rand to increase car-rental rates?
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