Baby, you can drive my car

• Source: Global Times
• [11:32 November 22 2010]
• Comments

Hi-Body Club members embark on a road trip.

The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai has no doubt brought a growth spurt to the car rental industry in Shanghai. Avis, as the designated car rental service provider of the World Expo, signed various contracts with the government, organizations and multinational companies. Avis views the Expo as a major opportunity for the future of their business as it is a way for them to win the market's trust.

"When cars are sold, as soon as the car is handed to the customer the transaction is over. But when renting cars there is so much more to consider such as the ability of the driver, and their behavior, comfort and safety. One must also consider how well the car runs. All these variables can't be seen when the car is delivered," Peng said. "We have very strict standards concerning the age of the cars. Usually we will retire a car from our fleet in five years. All our cars have Shanghai license plates. We don't do capital management nor do we want to be listed on the stock exchange. We just want to provide the best service to the customers and cover every level of this service," he added. Cars with Shanghai license plates have fewer restrictions than cars registered outside of Shanghai. For example, only cars with Shanghai license plates can drive on elevated roads during rush hours.

Avis is the only car rental company that was appointed by the Beijing Municipal Government as the industry service standard for China's car rental business. "The market is still quite immature in China. That's why the government supports international companies in joining and regulating the market and also educating the consumers," Zhong said. "Since most people don't know much about cars, instructions on how to use the car are essential to avoid conflicts when the car is returned," Peng added.

Peng went on to compare the car rental service with the hotel service, "When Chinese people first started dealing with hotels, they only cared about the price of the room. Now people want to know whether breakfast is covered, or if the hotel has a wi-fi service, but the customers have only started to ask these questions after using hotels for a long time. In terms of car rental we still shoulder the responsibility of telling customers what they want and what they need to look for."

Reaching the young

While Avis is using the Expo platform to regulate the market, eHi has their own way of reaching the market for car rental, primarily by reaching China's youth. According Liu Qingxue, a public relations representative for eHi, most of the staff in eHi's head office in Shanghai were born in the 1980s. During the Expo boom, car rental companies noticed their most profitable group were individuals choosing to drive themselves around the city, feeling that driving gave them greater independence and freedom and a chance to explore locations outside of Shanghai. Car delivery at Metro stations within the Inner Ring was also introduced during this period.

Today's young people are embracing the idea of sharing a car and eHi also has some special marketing schemes. Not only are they choosing car models that are fashionable among this young group, they are also using popular social networking sites to reach their audience. "Chinese people are so ingrained with ownership: owning an apartment, owning a car and so on. The idea of sharing a car is relatively new, and that's what we are promoting," Liu told the Global Times.