Daily Rental Fleet sales... a necessary little evil of the automotive industry. It wasn't all that long ago that Ford, GM, and Chrysler dumped far too many models into rental duty in order to keep the assembly lines running.
While fine in moderation, sales into daily rental fleets present a triple-pronged problem: They are typically sold at great discount with slim margins, they clog dealer lots with late model, low mileage used cars which compete against new car sales, and they can have serious adverse effect on resale value.
While the near collapse of the industry was enough to scare most manufacturers straight, there are still some who are dumping far too many cars into rental duty. AN&C is currently working on a comprehensive list of rental sales by manufacturer (a nearly impossible task, the manufacturers aren't too happy to cough up these stats), but in the meantime we have some observations from a recent roadtrip to one of the busiest markets in the United States for rental cars: Orlando, Fl.
These findings are by no means scientific, rather based on observations made over the course of one week hopping between attractions in the Orlando area. We perused the parking lots of Disney and SeaWorld, investigated Interstate 4, and observed the Osceola Parkway and this is what we found, listed from biggest offender on down.
CHRYSLER
The Bad
Chrysler, newly folded under the FIAT umbrella, has been trumpeting their new 2011 lineup in the Dodge, Jeep, and namesake Chrysler brand. With few exceptions, these new models have been praised by the press (this journalist included); They really appear to have sweated the details in these new and refreshed vehicles. Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw the amount of 2011 Pentastars put on rental duty in central Florida. I'll give the Town & Country and Grand Caravan minivans a pass, as they've owned that market since this blogger was in Pampers, but it was impossible to avoid seeing 2011 Journeys, Avengers, and 200s everywhere. We easily saw dozens and dozens every day, and nearly every row of the theme park parking lots were crowded with them. I would like to think that their bankruptcy was the wakeup call they needed to rightsize production to meet retail demand, but I guess interventions don't always work.
The Good
While most of the new 2011 ChryCo's were being handed out by Orlando's rental counters, there were a few encouraging omissions: We didn't see a single barcoded 2011 Charger, 2011 300, or 2011 Durango. Unfortunately, we barely saw any of those vehicles at all: 3 Chargers, 3 Durangos, and 1 300.
HYUNDAI
The Bad
Hyundai seems to have stepped in where Ford and GM have bowed out in the rental sales game; and our trip made that fact obvious. 2011 Sonatas and Elantras were more numerous than Sebring/200s, Malibus, Fusions, or Camrys. I was surprised to see so many new Elantras in rental service, as that vehicle has been critically acclaimed since it was unveiled.
The Good
Aside from the Sonata and Elantra, there weren't too many other Hyundai/Kia models noticed.
NISSAN
The Bad
Remember the recent spike in Altima sales? We wouldn't count on much of that increase being retail. Altimas, Versas, Sentras, and Rouges were all noticed in heavy rental usage. Nissan appears to be the largest Japanese played in this arena. We hope to substantiate that hunch with our upcoming analysis.
The Not So Bad
As with Hyundai, it appears only a few models have been drafted into rental duty, so you 370Z and Maxima owners should get out unscathed.
TOYOTA
The Bad
It's almost hard to believe we're discussing Toyota as a rental sales offender, but my how times have changed. We did notice a handful of Camrys with rear glass barcodes, but rental-spec versions of the "new" 2012 Corolla was impossible to avoid seeing.
The Not So Bad
With Toyota's sales slipping and newly-tarnished image, I was actually impressed to see only the Corolla in widespread fleet duty.
VOLKSWAGEN
The Bad
VW has laid out aggressive plans to dramatically increase sales over the next few years, and if what we saw in Florida is any indication, we know how they plan to do it. The 2011 Jetta has been widely panned by the automotive press for being too cheap, too weak, too large, and too unlike VW to be successful here. Judging by the sheer amount of Jetta rentals we saw, the press may be onto something.
The Not So Bad
Aside from the slew of Jettas and a handful of Tiguans, no other VW's were noticed in rental duty. Judging by the "Americanization" of the new Jetta, though, that could change.
GM
The Bad
This is definitely an area where post-bankruptcy GM has improved, but I was surprised to see dozens of the hot-selling Equinox being used as rentals. I would at least hope these sales were made without heavy discounting. Other GM's noticed were the Malibu (which is near the end of its lifecycle) and the Jurassic-era Impala.
The Not So Bad
We didn't notice a single Chevrolet Cruze rental the entire trip, despite seeing dozens of the new compact car on the roads. This tells us that not only is the Cruze selling in numbers greater than the Cobalt it replaced, but it just may be doing so without the high fleet sales the old car depended on. Also, the Equinox rental sales will soon be replaced by the Chevrolet Captiva, a surviving version of the deceased Saturn VUE.
FORD
The Bad
Two Ford models were noticed in rental service, the Escape compact SUV and the Taurus fullsize sedan. I was surprised that we didn't see a single Fusion sedan rental, as that is reportedly one of the higher percentage rental fleet models for Ford.
The Not So Bad
The Escape being used for fleet is nothing new, and considering that the vehicle is finally reaching the end of its long lifecycle (the 2013 model will be the first all-new Escape since the model first debuted in 2001), this isn't surprising. What stood out to us about the Taurus rentals we saw was that all but 1 were high-end Limited trims. This is encouraging news that they weren't willing to sell stripped down base models into rental service.
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