A semiconductor shortage has affected vehicle production.
This means there is a shortage of cars - and rental-car companies can t get the new cars they need.
The demand is sending the cost of used cars soaring.
The
semiconductor shortage has slashed vehicle production so much that rental-car
companies can’t get the new cars they need, so they have resorted to buying
used vehicles at auction.
This is uncharted
territory for the likes of Hertz Global Holdings and Enterprise Holdings, which
have made their profits by purchasing new vehicles cheaply in bulk, renting
them out for as much as a year and selling them at auction. In the past, they
Rental companies are buying up used cars as chip crisis deepens
The car crunch is a boon for rental companies, which can probably rent out every car they own at much higher rates than they charged before the pandemic.
Vehicle rental companies including Hertz, Dollar and Budget are listed on a sign at a parking garage in Arlington, Va.
The semiconductor shortage has slashed vehicle production so much that rental-car companies cannot get the new cars they need, so they have resorted to buying used vehicles at auction.
This is uncharted territory for the likes of Hertz and Enterprise, which have made their profits by purchasing new vehicles cheaply in bulk, renting them out for as much as a year and selling them at auction. In the past, they have bought some used cars to shore up an occasional unforeseen burst in demand, but rarely for the mainstays of their fleets.
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The semiconductor shortage has slashed vehicle production so much that rental-car companies can’t get the new cars they need, so they have resorted to buying used vehicles at auction.
This is uncharted territory for the likes of Hertz and Enterprise, which have made their profits by purchasing new vehicles cheaply in bulk, renting them out for as much as a year, and selling them at auction. In the past, they have bought some used cars to shore up an occasional unforeseen burst in demand, but rarely for the mainstays of their fleets.
“You would never go into auction to buy routine sedans and SUVs,” said Maryann Keller, an independent consultant who used to be on the board of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, which is now part of Hertz. “These are special circumstances. There is a shortage of cars.”
Rental cars are stored in a parking lot at a stadium in Los Angeles.
The semiconductor shortage has slashed vehicle production so much that rental-car companies can’t get the new cars they need, so they have resorted to buying used vehicles at auction.
This is uncharted territory for the likes of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Enterprise Holdings Inc., which have made their profits by purchasing new vehicles cheaply in bulk, renting them out for as much as a year and selling them at auction. In the past, they have bought some used cars to shore up an occasional unforeseen burst in demand, but rarely for the mainstays of their fleets.