Rent a car: from being in critical condition to boosting the Canary Islands automobile market

The growth of rent a cars saved the automobile market last July. According to monthly data, rent a car companies accounted for 70% of vehicle registrations in the Canary Islands, with a total of 2.509. This represents a difference of more than 30% from the annual average for the sector until now, which was 35,26%. The acquisition of vehicles by rent a cars in the Canary Islands in the month of July exceeds that of companies (1.273) and individuals (2.005).

Some surprising data taking into account the critical situation that the sector had to face just three years ago, in the middle of the pandemic. The sector was one of the most affected by the health crisis and had to reinvent itself and look for other clients, exchanging tourists for workshops or companies that required their services. Even so, rent a car cars in circulation fell to historic lows and many companies had to sell part of their fleet in order to survive.

In just one year, between 2020 and 2021, the sector's losses exceeded 1.000 million euros. They went from having 100% occupancy in 2019 to barely reaching 15% during 2020 and part of 2021. Furthermore, after the gradual reactivation of tourism on the islands, the sector faced supply problems as it did not have enough cars for everyone. tourists who came to the islands having had to sell part of their fleet, so the blow to the sector was double.

However, the sector seems to have recovered and be one of the great beneficiaries of the meteoric growth that tourism has experienced on the islands since 2021. Hand in hand with the tourism sector, rent a cars have begun to register numbers similar to those of 2019 and they already have expectations of exceeding them in the short term. At the moment, the growth of the automobile market on the islands is largely thanks to them and, therefore, to the tourism sector.