China's car rental market has seen a sharp uptick during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, driven by the growing popularity of self-driving tours.
Extended rental durations and flexible return options have also contributed to a rise in cross-location bookings.
With many travelers opting to rent cars during the holiday period, which runs from October 1 to 8, transport authorities have announced plans to regulate pricing, expand vehicle supply, and promote incentives such as free or discounted cross-location returns.
An eHi outlet in Beijing's Tongzhou District has seen a steady rise in customers ahead of the holiday. Wu, a regular renter, said he often chooses self-driving travel during holidays, and with this year's extended break, he plans to rent a car for a road trip home to northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Wu said he made the reservation a week in advance, with a total rental period of seven days, and he plans to try the option of returning the car at a different location -- returning it in Heilongjiang and then taking a high-speed train back to Beijing at the end of the holiday. "It's more convenient to drive back hometown, as I can enjoy the scenery along the way. Renting for a longer period is more cost-effective, and the platform offers discount coupons. I spent over 3,000 yuan (about 420 U.S. dollars) for the seven-day rental, and I will return the car [for free] in Heilongjiang's Daqing City," said Wu. The average car rental duration for customers during the eight-day holiday lasted for 5.2 days, with nearly 40 percent of customers being first-time renters, and more than half of them booking the services as a family. According to car rental stores, they put a large number of new cars into use before the holiday and increased the vehicle supply at hub locations in advance, including many popular new energy vehicle models. "We have allocated nearly 200 vehicles from the urban area to the airports. We have also monitored a more than 30-percent increase in the number of vehicles to be returned to our store from other locations on Oct. 7 and 8," said Jiang Wen, a store operation manager of a car rental company in Beijing. Additionally, some car rental companies said that rental prices during this holiday are basically at par with those of last year.
"During this year's holiday, the rental prices are basically similar to previous years, with daily rental prices ranging from over 200 yuan to 500 yuan. Oct. 1 is the peak period for users to pick up cars, continuing until Oct. 3, with the booking rate expected to exceed 90 percent," said Guo Jianwei, manager of eHi's Tongzhou Beiyuan South Road branch.
According to online car rental platforms, as of Wednesday morning, the number of renters registered for returning cars at different locations nationwide has increased by over 20 percent. Popular destinations for autumn travel, including Chengdu, Urumqi, Xining, Beijing, Hulun Buir, Harbin, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Shenzhen and Haikou, rank among the top 10 cities for car rental bookings during the holiday.
China sees surging demand for car rental services during National Day holiday
