Biggest Car Rental Market

China has the potential to become the world’s biggest car rental market, where the world’s biggest car rental company could be born, claims Ray Zhang, chairman of Shanghai based eHi Car Rental. The company recently raised 20 million from investors and plans to raise more by the end of 2010.

The company’s rivals, Hertz and Budget have been laying off staff and cutting costs as the global recession continues to bite. However, eHi Car Rental, which supplies chauffer driven services as well as self-drive, plans to invest in expanding its current fleet of 1000 vehicles to 10,000 over the next three years.

Zhang points out that shortage of space in Chinese cities and the problems of pollution in what could become the world’s number one vehicle market will restrict car ownership and this is good news for rental companies. China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao, supports this idea and has called for development in the car rental market as a way to help reduce pollution and conserve energy.
Zhang said that the number of people holding a driver’s license is increasing by 20% per year. At the moment 200 million people hold licenses in China, far more than own cars.He forecasts that revenues at eHi Car Rental will triple this year.