Car and van hire rates could rise by as much as 15%, according to Sixt. Sixt’s Managing Director, Ian Lawrence, told Fleet News that:

Even with the most recent increases, rates are still nowhere near where we need them to be … They are still 10 to 15% below where they should be.”

It’s not just Sixt, either. An Avis spokesman confirmed that they too were seeking to “continue to take opportunities to maximise price increases where appropriate”.

Rental rates have risen by about 8% in recent months. These rises can mostly be explained by two factors:

• Rising vehicle acquisition costs being passed on to rental customers
• Reduction in fleet sizes in order to lower debt requirements and increase fleet utilisation (and hence profitability)

Both Avis and Sixt have managed to improve their financial results this year – in Avis’ case by reducing debt by 14% and in Sixt’s case by improving revenue (although profit stayed unchanged in the UK).