Car rental

A Sixt car agency at Munich airport, Germany.

Car hire is the act or procedure of hiring (renting) a car, usually for a fee.

The business that provides the car becomes the car hire service provider, and the party who hires the car becomes the car hirer.

A car hire company is usually the business that hires out automobiles for fixed periods of time (ranging from as little as hours up to weeks or longer).

Location

They can be found primarily located near airports or busy city areas. The internet is changing the car rental industry with companies that are now called online car rental companies. Travelers can pre-book their rental car online anywhere across the globe directly from the service providers like Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Sixt Rent a Car, Thrifty, Travelauto.com, Dollar, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Europcar.

Purpose

Car rental agencies are mainly for people who need a car for a short period of time, for example travellers who are out of town, people whose cars were damaged or destroyed. Car rental agencies may also rent trucks for self-moving industry

Conditions

Car rentals are subject to many conditions which vary from one brand to another. The vehicle must be returned in a good condition and must not exceed a maximum driven distance, otherwise extra fees may be incurred. Additionally, some companies set up a minimum age for the vehicle driver, which in some cases is as high as 25, even in countries where the minimum legal age to hold a driver's license is much lower. Recent conditions have used GPS technology to limit maximum speeds or driving to specific regions.

Global market

North America and Europe are leading the car rental market, followed by Asia-Pacific. North America is dominating the car rental market, owing to the high usage rate of car rental services by daily commuters, office-goers, and tourists in the country. Also, the growing trend of car sharing also boosts the usage of car rental in this region.