Renting a car costs less in Switzerland, but there is a trap

This kind of panel is now common in all airports in the country.Image: Imago

The car rental sector is expected to have a turnover of around 600 million francs this year in Switzerland. Strong growth is planned, in particular thanks to foreign tourists, who must however expect tedious discussions.

Stefan Ehrbar / CH Media

The next time you see a car lost in the middle of a Swiss pedestrian area because its driver, who does not know the premises, did not notice the prohibition to circulate, look at the license plate; There is a good chance that it is a vehicle registered “AI”.

It is not because the inhabitants of Appenzell Rhodes-interior are particularly bad drivers, but because in Switzerland, almost all rental cars are registered in the canton of Appenzell (or in the canton of Vaud) because of the low costs.

Business is working well. More and more foreign tourists are visiting Switzerland, and the hotel sector is about to break a historic record this year. If many travelers use public transport, the rental car remains very popular. With the “Grand Tour of Switzerland”, the Swiss Tourism Marketing Organization even unveiled a specially marked road trip in 2015.

Strong growth of American visitors

But tourists are not the only ones to rent a car more often, the Swiss are also going. Thus, Helvetic Motion AG, which manages in Switzerland car rental activities of the American brands Enterprise, National and Alamo, is currently recorded exceptionally strong growth.

The managing director, Marco Venturini, says that turnover is currently 15% higher than that of last year. Compared to 2019, last year before the COVVI-19 crisis, turnover has even doubled. His business recently experienced strong growth, mainly thanks to digitization. Customers no longer need to wait at the counter, but can adjust everything online. This has considerably strengthened the attractiveness of the business, in particular to professional customers.

Business is also flourishing in other providers. According to Martin Helg, marketing manager at Europcar, the largest local rental company, summer affairs have so far been “cheerful and stable”. The turnover would be greater than that of last year, even if it is still too early to draw conclusions. Europcar also progressed compared to 2019, confirms Helg.

This year, the leisure sector plays a particularly important role, explains Helg. Local customers would be more numerous than foreign customers, but Europcar also records strong growth with American customers. However, the most important foreign customers remain those from the United Kingdom.

Nearly 18,000 rental cars registered

Hertz Switzerland also reports a “high demand” during the summer, and it seems to be maintained. Like many other companies, Hertz does not wish to communicate specific figures for the Swiss market. Sixt, for example, only indicates that the group’s turnover increased from 2.5 to 4.0 billion euros between 2019 and 2024.

According to various estimates, the car rental market in Switzerland is expected to generate around 600 million francs this year. By 2030, this figure should reach 700 million francs per year. The total number of rental cars in circulation is however not identified. The data from the canton of Appenzell Rhodes-interior, however, provide some indications. This year, 17,360 rental vehicles were registered there, a little less than during the 2019 record year, but more than last year. Stocks are subject to seasonal fluctuations and this figure corresponds to the maximum stock based on license plates in circulation.

The market is very fragmented. In addition to large service providers, dozens of small businesses compete for customers. According to data from the Skyscanner portal, the average price of a rental car in Zurich is currently 108 francs per day.

Light prices drop …

Marco Venturini, director of Helvetic Motion, says the prices fell by around 2% this year compared to last year:

Europcar tables on a “moderate price evolution”.

If the price of a rental without a hitch is down, incidents are increasingly expensive. According to Hertz, the costs of repairs have increased. This would be explained by the fact that vehicles are equipped more and more technologies. Sixt indicates that the costs of many repairs have “considerably increased” in the past two years due to inflation. This has an impact on compensation paid in the event of damage, says the company.

… but beware of damage

Anyone who is raying or damaging the body of a rental car will now have to pay more and prepare for tedious discussions. Marco Venturini says it is a “thorny subject”. Many foreign tourists are not used to “high standards or low local tolerance for damage”. He continues his explanation:

Thanks to a recent improvement in the recording and detection of damage, it therefore records much more claims, “including all the discussions resulting from it”. Rolling on the slow lane with a rental car therefore remains good advice.

Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci

A fire broke out on Sunday afternoon in a waste recovery company in Mont-sur-Lausanne (VD). The disaster, which was still underway at the start of the evening, caused a strong release of smoke.

It is a deposit of metallic waste in the open air which caught fire, said Pascal Granado, spokesperson for the Vaud police, contacted by Keystone-ATS. He evokes a pile of scrap nearly ten meters high.