20/04/2013 00:00
TW
0
STAFF REPORTER

PALMA
THIS holiday season there will be 40'000 cars available, an upturn of 10 percent confirmed Baleval which includes the large multinational companies which operate on the Islands.

The Association said that increasing the numbers of the car hire fleet had been an ongoing process up to the Easter break. “There has been a considerable upturn in the number of cars available for hire,” a spokesman said, adding that it was the first occasion in three years that the fleet had been boosted.

The same sources said that the car hire industry in the Balearics had been at its height in 2008 when there were around 50'000 vehicles on the roads of the Balearic Islands. However, by the time the high season of 2009 came round, there were apparently just 35'000 available, more than 35 percent less. Business last year was apparently maintained at the same level.

By way of comparison with figures provided by the national association of car hire companies (Feneval), Baleval said that the car hire fleet across Spain was 150'000 in 2009 and 155'000 last year. In order to illustrate just how much the market has picked up, Baleval said that more than 65 percent of the car hire vehicles which are driving across Balearic roads this summer are new. During the previous three summers, purchasing of new vehicles had been kept to a minimum because of falling demand and above all due to the fact that banks were unwilling to provide credit.

Baleval pointed out that in fact these restrictions are still in place but because car sales to members of the public have nose-dived, manufacturers have set up ways of financing the sale of new vehicles to care hire companies.

The regional association said however that last Easter, there were more vehicles lying idle than being rented and that reservations for May and June are still not surging. Nevertheless, given that people often wait until the last moment before hiring a car, company hopes are high that all vehicles will be rented out on the roads during the high season.