Japan aftershocks hit car hire prices

PALMA
CAR hire brokers are warning that a shortage of parts and vehicles as a result of the Japan disaster is hitting rental rates for this Easter and could impact on summer prices.

Affordable Car Hire, Your Car Hire and Holiday Autos have all warned that the slowdown in the supply of components is affecting their supplies. Large Peugeot Citroen vehicles and Japanese models are said to be particularly affected by the shortage of parts.

Nick Marney, Affordable's commercial director, said the car hire industry was unlikely to receive any new cars from PSA Peugeot Citroen in April.
He said the company was getting more cars from local suppliers with slightly older fleets to make up for the drop in new vehicles, but that the shortage could hit traditional destinations such as Spain just as their popularity was back on the rise as customers avoided Egypt.

Holiday Autos head of trade sales Sandra Downs said the shortage of vehicles appeared to be becoming an issue across Europe and was likely to impact on summer prices. “Car hire suppliers are starting to comment that there could be a challenge in getting key components,” she said.
Ruth Bligh, managing director of Your Car Hire, said a Spanish supplier had warned her that Peugeots were in short supply – particularly larger vehicles popular with golfers – which was a key market for her company.

PSA Peugeot Citroen said it was temporarily halting production at its Slovakian plant this week as car part supply from Japan had dried up.