anuário brasileiro do setor de locação de veículos 2016 18 Business In more developed countries, partners and suppliers of products and services for the car rental industry usually face the sector as the main ally in its strategies and businesses vision. The automotive industry, for instance, maintains policies and exclusive conditions, within the reality and the needs of the segment, the same way as it happens with the whole network of other suppliers directly involved with the rental companies. This practice is still not kept with the same emphasis in Brazil, where the car rental industry is responsible for absorbing, in percentage, more than two digits of the entire fleet sold annually in the country. “Rental companies are the biggest buyers of automobiles, be it here or in countries like the United States, France, England, Germany and Canada”, confirms Jorge Pontual, ABLA’s commercial director. That means, in practice, the segment is fundamental for the car industry to reach its goals and strategic objectives. “To do that, both car companies and the financial sector could and should get closer in a more intense pace and interest for the small and medium enterprises in our segment, which represent a huge business potential in Brazil”, Pontual continues. That is because the difficulty regarding the power of negotiation affects mainly the small and medium entrepreneurs of the rental industry. Big companies get, because of the purchase volume, better conditions of acquisition and exclusive attendance. But it is necessary to remember that more than half of the rental vehicles fleet is condensed in small and medium companies. That is actually a parcel with great potential for new business opportunities which would benefit all players involved. The same rationale is valid for the dealerships. Besides specific cases, a fair portion of companies in that sector has not yet developed the necessary expertise in Direct Sales, due to the short term vision which favors only the sales made to natural persons, in which the profitability is higher. What has to be observed, however, is that in those cases the sale happens to only one consumer at a time, while the rental industry buys large volumes in much shorter periods. “A good part of the dealerships has not yet identified the opportunity our segment represents at medium and long terms, mainly with periodical maintenance and other services that the dealerships could benefit from”, states Jorge Pontual. It is true there are good examples, however still incipient before the growing demand of the rental industry in the country. Some automakers support direct sales through specific projects and specialized attendance, in a way that the dealerships can adhere to these initiatives. According to Jorge Pontual, a range of other suppliers could follow the same path, including car tracking companies, management softwares, tires, glasses and insurance companies, among many other segments close to the rental businesses. What we need A very clear example that the car rental industry is still not on the agenda with the priority it should is the absence of vehicles made to meet the specific needs of the sector. Cars available for rental must come from the factory essentially with air conditioning, power steering, power windows and four doors. “Most car makers offer one or more of these items only in ‘packages’, with a series of other accessories which raise prices and don’t bring direct advantages for rental entrepreneurs”, warns Pontual. Unexplored potential Besides, automakers abroad have a buy back process, in which vehicles sold to rental companies have repurchase guaranteed by the producer brands themselves, as long as some pre- -established demands are met. “In Brazil, automakers unfortunately have not yet found the recipe to structure projects to make this opportunity viable, of taking the excellent used cars from the rental companies for their dealerships to resell”, considers ABLA’s commercial director. Credit Similarly, opportunities with the rental sector could also be better utilized by financial institutions, regarding the financing plans available to car rental companies. Pontual approaches a fundamental aspect in this direction, which would be the pre-qualification of entrepreneurs when obtaining credit lines. “The rental companies have already gone through several types of analysis to be accepted at ABLA, that is, only reliable entrepreneurs stay in the Association and, even so, there are many restrictions to have access to better credit conditions, even for ABLA’s associates”, Pontual states. In this sense, the vehicles themselves represent security for creditors and could weigh more among the guarantee factors that financias institutions take into account when granting loans. “We need the process of guarantee substitution to be faster and less onerous”, complements Jorge Pontual. “With the current conditions, this process is almost impracticable and doesn’t take into account that no other sector generates cash flow like ours”, he concludes.
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