Bordeaux: “80 euros rental car per day is expensive”
In the rental car park, opposite Terminal B of the airport.
Quentin Salinier/ “SOUTHWEST”
The rise in rental car prices has not gone unnoticed since the end of the first lockdown in the summer of 2020. And Bordeaux is not the least affected of the big cities: according to a recent ranking by car rental comparison Carigami, it is the fifth most expensive French city with an average price of 430 euros per week between January 1st and April 1stah May 31 and August 31, 2022, ie an increase of 7.7% compared to 2021 and 32.7% compared to 2019. A ranking that, by the way, is dominated by… Biarritz, where the average rental cost explodes to 505 euros, ie +8.8% compared to 2021 and especially +96.4% compared to 2019. Nice, Ajaccio and Nîmes appear in 2e3e and 4e Positions intercalated between the two cities of New Aquitaine.
The Gironde, the promised land of van holidays
Many converted van rental companies have started operations on the outskirts of Bordeaux. Behind this is the rise of a holiday mode called “Van Life”, which keeps winning new customers
Tenant trapped in a vise
If the tourist attraction of southern France is obviously putting pressure on prices, the sharp increase in rental prices can be explained, as we remember at Carigami, by half-mast production of new vehicles. The notorious lack of microprocessors comes into question. Rental companies, who as a precaution had reduced their fleet of vehicles at the height of the lockdown, are now struggling to renew their fleets. Added to this is a sustained tourist demand: as proof, at the beginning of the summer season, the SNCF announced a 10 percent increase in ticket reservations compared to the summer of 2019, the “reference year before the pandemic”, notes Mobilians, ex-CNPA, the professional organization of the automotive trade, in the roundabout way of a press release addressed to the automobile manufacturers, at the beginning of July.
Benoît has his sights set on a small C1: “And again I took the smallest model. »
Quentin Salinier/ “SOUTHWEST”
Because these tensions have prompted the profession to publicly call on manufacturers to “bring vehicle supply back to a sufficient level via the short-term rental channel”. Indeed, according to the latest figures, registrations of vehicles destined for rental companies fell by 51.3% in the first six months of the year compared to 2019, while the overall car market recorded a “contained” decline of 33.82% . Three years ago, “rental” registrations represented 230,000 vehicles on the French market. At the end of 2022 it will probably be half that, we confirm at the Mobilians… The context is known and manufacturers have a keen interest in preferring deliveries to individuals, a more profitable circuit than bulk orders from rental companies.
Miscellaneous Fortunes
To be honest, the fortunes in the airport renter’s parking lot are mixed. Aurore, coming from Lille, takes her Fiat 500, a model before 2020, “for work”. “190.06 euros, from Wednesday to Sunday. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. Another story from Benoît, a Portugal resident Girondin, back ‘two days for business’. He has set his sights on a modest Citroën C1 for 179 euros with no mileage limit. “And again I took the smaller model. A reservation that goes back three months. We’re not just driving up sunflower oil prices…”
Between 492 and 554 euros in the week of August 6 to 13 for a Fiat 500
The prices at a glance, from August 6th to 13th at the car rental companies based at the airport: A Fiat 500 (old model) is available for the week, with no mileage limit, for 608.16 euros at Europcar (554.40 euros online) and , better, 565.80 euros at Avis (492 euros online). Or at Sixt a Peugeot 3008 for 771.73 euros, but limited to 1,750 kilometers and randomly a Renault Clio for 633.88 euros (528.23 euros online) at Hertz. “This agency is in high demand. Book as soon as possible on that date to guarantee your car,” a website warns.
