The Rent a Car has closed the year 2022 with a total of 114,481 registered vehicles between passenger cars and industrial vehicles, which represents a collapse of 35.58% compared to the previous year, when a total of 177,712 registrations were registered, according to MSI data. .
Regarding the billing forecast for the current year 2023, FENEVAL, the National Business Federation for Vehicle Rental with and without driver, has announced that this year they expect to register a billing of close to 1,800 million euros, results that would be equal to practically to those obtained in 2019, before the Coronavirus pandemic.
This would mean a growth of 12.5% compared to 2021, when an approximate turnover of 1,600 million euros was recorded. Lack of supply of vehicles Regarding the situation of lack of fleet that the automotive sector is experiencing as a result of the semiconductor crisis, the president of FENEVAL, Juan Luis Barahona, has assured that they do not expect the situation to improve this year in a notable way and has once again asked car brands that, "given the forecast of record numbers of tourists that the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism transfers for this 2023, they maintain 20% of the total sales of New Vehicles (VN) to the RAC to be able to continue meeting the demand”.
It should be remembered, in relation to this, that the rental companies went from having more than 800,000 vehicles in circulation in high season in 2019, to only around 600,000 last summer, therefore, from the national employers' association of the rental companies, it becomes to recommend citizens to reserve their vehicle in advance for the Easter holidays.
Challenges for the RAC in 2023
In addition to the already mentioned microchip crisis, which is affecting the entire automotive sector in general, FENEVAL fears that in 2023 some of the challenges, such as the macroeconomic uncertainty, could jeopardize the favorable tourist forecasts that are expected for this year.
"Given the slowdown in the world economy, marked by high inflation, we could find ourselves with a less propitious evolution than expected in terms of tourist reservations, especially domestic tourists," Barahona assured. For this reason, he adds, "it is important to reinforce the attractiveness of Spain as a quality and modern tourist destination, through a more personalized and sustainable service."