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The New York Times
October 14, 2014
Article Quotes:
If it feels as if your rental car is always a Chevrolet Impala, there’s a reason for that.
Rental car companies registered 89,569 new Impalas during 2013, making it America’s top-selling rental car for two years running. Fifty-seven percent of all new Impalas sold in the United States last year became rental cars, according to data from Polk Automotive.
Some cars, such as the Nissan Altima and the Toyota Camry, are big sellers into the rental market because they are big sellers, period. But the Impala is one of 16 car and light-truck models with 30 percent or more of their sales going to the rental market last year.
“National tries to address the issue of rental car roulette by just letting you pick your own car,” said Chris Ladd, a sales engineer who rents cars several times a month. “Unfortunately, what that means is you can pick absolutely any vehicle out of their vast collection of Chevy Impalas — even one of the fancier shades of gray.”
Mr. Ladd is being a little bit unfair: On Saturday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, National had just a couple of Impalas to offer; the Chevrolet Malibu was the more prevalent full-size sedan. But he has hit on something here. Look at that lot, and the blandness is one of three themes that emerge in defining the vehicles that depend so heavily on the rental market.
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Image Credit: New York Times
Chevrolet Impalas at the National Car Rental lot at San Diego International Airport. If it seems as if your rental car is often an Impala, that's not your imagination: It is among the most popular cars for rental companies, but it's not nearly as popular with individual car buyers.
“Let’s face it, it was a rental car,” Eric Ibara, director of residual value consulting for Kelley Blue Book, said of the 2013 Impala. “Starting in 2014, Chevrolet dramatically changed that. They redesigned the vehicle so that it was much more appealing to consumers.”
Mr. Ibara noted that the Impala’s residual value — a measure of a new car’s likely resale value in the used market — had improved markedly since the revamp, reflecting greater desirability.
“We only want to rent cars that people want to rent,” said Christine Cavallini, vice president for corporate communications at Enterprise Holdings, the largest rental car company in the North American market, which owns National, Alamo and Enterprise. She cited a study, commissioned from Polk by Enterprise, showing that rental car customers are more likely to buy models of cars they have previously rented.
But here’s the thing: Even after the revamp, the Impala is still mostly selling into the rental market. According to data from Kelley Blue Book, 74 percent of 2013 Impalas became rental cars; for the 2014 model year so far, the figure is still 54 percent.
The Impala continues to depend on the rental market in part because the old Impala lives on alongside the new Impala. It’s marketed as the Chevrolet Impala Limited, it costs a few thousand dollars less than the revamped Impala, and it’s sold only to fleet buyers like rental car companies. General Motors does not break out separate sales figures for the Impala and the Impala Limited; we saw both on National’s lots in the last week.
G.M. has announced plans to keep making the Impala Limited at least through 2016, which means Mr. Ladd may not be getting away from what he calls “the Chevy Object” any time soon.
October 14, 2014
Article Quotes:
If it feels as if your rental car is always a Chevrolet Impala, there’s a reason for that.
Rental car companies registered 89,569 new Impalas during 2013, making it America’s top-selling rental car for two years running. Fifty-seven percent of all new Impalas sold in the United States last year became rental cars, according to data from Polk Automotive.
Some cars, such as the Nissan Altima and the Toyota Camry, are big sellers into the rental market because they are big sellers, period. But the Impala is one of 16 car and light-truck models with 30 percent or more of their sales going to the rental market last year.
“National tries to address the issue of rental car roulette by just letting you pick your own car,” said Chris Ladd, a sales engineer who rents cars several times a month. “Unfortunately, what that means is you can pick absolutely any vehicle out of their vast collection of Chevy Impalas — even one of the fancier shades of gray.”
Mr. Ladd is being a little bit unfair: On Saturday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, National had just a couple of Impalas to offer; the Chevrolet Malibu was the more prevalent full-size sedan. But he has hit on something here. Look at that lot, and the blandness is one of three themes that emerge in defining the vehicles that depend so heavily on the rental market.
Image Credit: New York Times
Chevrolet Impalas at the National Car Rental lot at San Diego International Airport. If it seems as if your rental car is often an Impala, that's not your imagination: It is among the most popular cars for rental companies, but it's not nearly as popular with individual car buyers.
“Let’s face it, it was a rental car,” Eric Ibara, director of residual value consulting for Kelley Blue Book, said of the 2013 Impala. “Starting in 2014, Chevrolet dramatically changed that. They redesigned the vehicle so that it was much more appealing to consumers.”
Mr. Ibara noted that the Impala’s residual value — a measure of a new car’s likely resale value in the used market — had improved markedly since the revamp, reflecting greater desirability.
“We only want to rent cars that people want to rent,” said Christine Cavallini, vice president for corporate communications at Enterprise Holdings, the largest rental car company in the North American market, which owns National, Alamo and Enterprise. She cited a study, commissioned from Polk by Enterprise, showing that rental car customers are more likely to buy models of cars they have previously rented.
But here’s the thing: Even after the revamp, the Impala is still mostly selling into the rental market. According to data from Kelley Blue Book, 74 percent of 2013 Impalas became rental cars; for the 2014 model year so far, the figure is still 54 percent.
The Impala continues to depend on the rental market in part because the old Impala lives on alongside the new Impala. It’s marketed as the Chevrolet Impala Limited, it costs a few thousand dollars less than the revamped Impala, and it’s sold only to fleet buyers like rental car companies. General Motors does not break out separate sales figures for the Impala and the Impala Limited; we saw both on National’s lots in the last week.
G.M. has announced plans to keep making the Impala Limited at least through 2016, which means Mr. Ladd may not be getting away from what he calls “the Chevy Object” any time soon.
