8,000 yuan a day, who is renting a Rolls-Royce for the New Year

China-Singapore Jingwei, February 6 (Liu Xueyu) "A customer riding an electric car wrapped in a quilt came to our store to rent a Ferrari, and a customer rode an electric car to rent a Rolls-Royce Phantom. These are the two guests who have impressed Xiaowei (not his real name) the most recently.

Xiaowei is a founding partner of a car rental company in Beijing. According to the Spring Festival car rental market, a Rolls-Royce Phantom of 8,000 yuan a day can be rented for 7 days, that is to say, the starting price of this Spring Festival luxury car tour needs to be 56,000 yuan.

With a daily rent of nearly 10,000 yuan, who is renting a luxury car to go home for the New Year?

Approaching the Spring Festival, Xiaowei has been extremely busy these days, often delivering cars until the early hours of the morning. "Before the Spring Festival, it is 'car selection', and during the Spring Festival, it is 'car selection', after all, the car is very nervous. ”

Xiaowei has been renting luxury cars for three years, and according to his observations, most of the customers who come to rent cars are men, and they are mainly young people between the ages of 20 and 30, and they have the habit of renting and spending. During the Spring Festival, some middle-aged people will also come to rent luxury cars, and unlike other car rental groups, this part of the guests is relatively insensitive to prices.

These customers who rent luxury cars will choose to rent very different models because of the different use scenarios of car rental. "Customers who are single or have no children like to rent sports cars. Families with children love renting business vans, Toyota's Alpha and Wilfa. Xiaowei said that in the process of renting luxury cars to serve customers on a daily basis, there will be guests from time to time who impress them.

At the end of January, a customer on an electric car came to the store and rented a Ferrari. "The contrast was quite big, and he asked us to help keep his electric car. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a Ferrari, he said, 'Just to experience a different life', and he would take his girlfriend out for three days. Xiaowei said.

Another guest lives in Dongcheng, Beijing, and when Xiaowei was looking for a customer to collect the car, he saw the customer riding an electric car wrapped in a large quilt and riding towards him. "I didn't dare to recognize this customer at the time, and then I learned from a simple chat with the customer that they are a family of three, he and his wife like cars, but they can't afford to buy such an expensive luxury car, they usually have a car to drive, rent a Rolls-Royce Phantom, go out for a walk, experience different driving feelings. Xiaowei recalled.

In addition, there is also a category of customers who are restricted to high spending, and these people cannot travel in first class, but can only take second class on the train. "But they have the pursuit of travel comfort, we will rent a car here with a driver at the same time, for example, the customer is going to Shanghai for 15 days, we will take the driver according to this itinerary, package a price to the customer, this cost is estimated to be completely higher than the price of the first class ticket. Xiaowei said.

In addition, Xiaowei said that some people rented sports cars and went back to their hometown for a blind date.

Regarding the price, Xiaowei said frankly that the Spring Festival is the best market for car rental, and the closer to the Spring Festival, the higher the car rental price. However, the market price of a rental car depends on the amount of inventory, and the prices of various rental companies in the market are basically synchronized, and consumers will not pay for the price if the price is outrageous. "Recently, the highest price of a car we rented is the Rolls-Royce Phantom, 8,000 yuan a day, and the customer rents it for 7 days. ”

Zhongxin Jingwei saw on the Ctrip car rental platform that during the Spring Festival, the daily rent of Rolls-Royce Phantom in Beijing was 9,600 yuan. The Maserati MC rents for 8,380 yuan for the 20th and the Ferrari for the 488th day is 8,129 yuan. The daily rental price of Porsche 911 is 4500 yuan. According to Ctrip's platform manager, the minimum rental period during the Spring Festival is usually 7 days, and there will be different adjustments according to different models.

Source: Screenshot of the car rental platform

Zhongxin Jingwei contacted four luxury car leasing companies in Beijing and Sanya, Hainan and learned that as the Spring Festival approaches, there are not many luxury car models that can be booked, among which the most scarce in the market are five-seater sedans and seven-seater commercial vehicles. Popular models of five-seater sedans include Mercedes-Benz E300, BMW 5 Series, and Audi A6, and popular models of seven-seater commercial vehicles include Mercedes-Benz V260, Buick GL8, Toyota Alpha, and Wilfa.

From renting luxury cars to "support the façade" to new consumer experiences

"I've been in the industry for three years, and the market has changed very quickly in those three years. It turns out that we understand the intention of customers to rent a car, and there is no other reason, just to support the façade, but now many people who rent a car have a different consumption psychology. Xiaowei said.

Xiaowei classifies his customers into two groups, some customers are people with financial strength, they can afford luxury cars, but are willing to choose the consumption method of renting a car, thinking that this consumption is very flexible, do not occupy a large amount of rent, can change cars at any time, and there is no repair and maintenance costs, which is just like renting a house does not need to consider property fees and heating costs. On the other hand, most of them are young people who can't afford luxury cars, but they are willing to rent luxury cars to improve their quality of life and pay for high-quality travel.

According to the data of the Ministry of Transport, at present, the "post-90s" and "post-00s" have gradually become the main force of car rental consumption, taking the "May Day" and Dragon Boat Festival holidays in 2023 as an example, the "post-90s" and "post-00s" consumer groups have increased by more than 60% compared with the same period in 2019, accounting for more than half of all consumer groups.

At the end of January, Xiaowei rented a car for 10 days in Hangzhou, where he was on a business trip, and the car rental price was 150 yuan per day. Xiaowei said, "Although I am engaged in the luxury car rental industry, every day I contact customers who spend thousands of dollars to rent a car, but I have a different concept of consumption, I also privately communicate with peers in other rental companies, we may often drive these luxury cars, there is not much novelty, but when it comes to renting a car, only need to meet the daily travel can be." ”

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, since 2023, China's car rental orders have continued to show a sharp upward trend, and the market continues to be hot at the beginning of the year and summer. Among them, leisure travel accounts for more than 50%, and 100-200 kilometers of short-distance leisure travel car rental shows a significant growth trend.

"During the Spring Festival, the supply exceeds demand, and now you can still book a car, and there will be no car later. Approaching two weeks before the Spring Festival, a car rental merchant in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province told Zhongxin Jingwei. "Car rental during the Spring Festival is very tight, and the closer you get to the Spring Festival, the higher the price. A staff member of a tourist car rental company in Sanya said.

Mr. Xu, who works in Beijing, is glad that he rented a car on Ctrip's platform two weeks in advance, saying, "It is difficult to get a train ticket for the Spring Festival, and you also need to rent a car in advance. ”

"This year, we plan to increase investment and enrich the popular models in the store. Xiaowei told Zhongxin Jingwei that he is optimistic about the luxury car rental market.

According to data from major platforms, Hello Car Rental bookings surged by 370% year-on-year (as of January 31), eHi Car Rental's bookings (including reservations) during the 2024 Spring Festival travel period increased by more than 75% year-on-year, setting a new booking record over the years (as of January 28), Ctrip's domestic bookings will increase by about 60% year-on-year (as of January 26), and during the Spring Festival period (February 9 to February 17), car rental bookings increased by more than 3 times year-on-year.

(The views in the article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice, investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.) )

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Editor in charge: Luo Kun and Li Zhongyuan