Hertz starts limiting mileage on hire cars - Car Rental News
Hertz starts limiting mileage on hire cars
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Car Rental News - 27/09/2010
Unlimited mileage car hire contracts consigned to history.
Following a spate of customers using Hertz vehicles to make their commutes between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the car hire firm has binned its former unlimited mileage contracts. At the start of September, Hertz introduced a monthly cap of 4,000kms. This limit, which applies to customers renting on a monthly basis, has since been raised to 5,000kms.
Hertz says this new, 20-per-cent higher limit means 98 per cent of customers will avoid additional charges. Nigel Johnson, who is the GM at Hertz UAE, said the firm studied customers’ driving habits for several months before electing to introduce the cap. He said the strategy was implemented in a way aimed at avoiding passing on unwelcome higher prices.
The strategy requires analysis of how customers at Hertz are using their hire vehicles. He said one customer managed to rack up 16,000kms in a month, which would appear to indicate the car was being used 24 hours per day. Mr Johnson pointed out that such heavy use of the vehicle leads to Hertz having to spend more on maintenance costs.
Overall, fleet mileage at Hertz UAE has increased. Mr Johnson said this was caused by a higher number of long-distance commuters. Some customers of car hire firms are driving such great mileages every month, it ends up being cheaper for them to buy their own cars.
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