The car rental market in France

Short-term car rental (LCD), or vehicle rental, is a service offered by a company providing customers with vehicle rentals for short periods ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. Rental companies are often made up of a number of local branches, enabling customers to return their vehicle at a different location from the one at which it was picked up.

Most rental agencies are located in airport terminals, in the immediate vicinity of railway stations and in city centers, and reservations can be made online via a website. The car rental market therefore covers all transactions between companies and individuals enabling the borrowing of a vehicle over a given period. A distinction is usually made between short-term rentals and long-term rentals or leasing, where the lessor is the lessor.

Short-term rental vehicles can be used for a variety of purposes and by a variety of people, including :

Private individuals

Tourists

Corporate customers

In 2019, there were almost 8 million short-term vehicle rentals. The combination of several phenomena - sustained growth in tourism activities, the emergence of short-term rental as an alternative to vehicle ownershipthe combination of sustained growth in the tourist industry, the emergence of short-term rental as an alternative to vehicle ownership, and changes in motorist behavior, with drivers more inclined to adopt new forms of mobility, are all contributing to the structural growth of the LCD market in France.

The COVID-19 crisis turned the market upside down. The various measures to restrict and limit travel had a direct impact on the short-term vehicle rental sector. As a result, the sector's flagship companies, Europcar and Hertz, have been filing for bankruptcy in the United States since 2020, due to their financial difficulties. However, the upturn in tourism and the lifting of health restrictions in Europe, particularly in France, point to a strong recovery in activity in 2021, with sharp price rises in the most popular regions.

Indeed, on the global market, car rental sales are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7% between 2024 and 2034. The French market, meanwhile, saw a 64% increase in sales between 2015 and 2023. This is due to a number of factors, not least the steady increase in the number of trips to mainland France and the French overseas departments following the COVID-19 crisis.

Car-sharing is also experiencing considerable growth. Indeed, the number of carsharing users is growing rapidly, increasing by 42% between 2022 and 2023. This growth can be attributed mainly to the fact that over 80% of French people find car-sharing cheaper than buying their own car, and avoid the problems of parking and vehicle maintenance.