Rental companies have stock shortage

Some daily rental companies are starting to buy nearly-new cars on the used market because of a shortage of new stock, reports the Vehicle Remarketing Association.

Typically, they are purchasing batches of small-medium sized cars that are less than six months old, helping to keep values for these vehicles firm.

Glenn Sturley, chair at the VRA, said, ‘We have seen a number of manufacturers pull back quite significantly from the rental sector in the last year, especially some of those who have supplied superminis in larger volumes. Also, even those who continue to push larger numbers of cars into the sector are often suffering from supply issues.

‘This means that simply to meet their requirement for vehicles, some rental companies are having to look beyond traditional sources and have been entering the nearly-new sector instead, buying batches of cars to meet their needs, our members are reporting.’

Glenn said that new car daily rental business tended to be cyclical and depended very much on vehicle supply at any given time.

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