For the first time in France, a company car rental service has been offered in recent weeks in several Breton departments. Still limited, this initiative could well change users' habits. Here is a presentation of this new system as well as its advantages and disadvantages.
The principle of this initiative
The launch of the service is the result of a simple observation made by SNCF: on weekends, many of the company's service cars are not used. To remedy this, the company has developed a unique rental service. To do so, it has relied on a partnership with car rental companies, like for instance
getaround.com which is one of the French specialists in car rental between private individuals. Every weekend, users can now rent a Citroën C3 or Renault Clio available in the car parks of Brest, Rennes, Vannes, Saint-Brieuc and Redon stations, to be used until Sunday evening within a limit of 200 kilometres. In the long term, this original system could concern the main stations throughout France, or even be extended to company cars of other companies.
The advantages and disadvantages of the device
Among the strong points of this service, which is still in the test phase, is first of all the price: the rental of these company vehicles is only 25 euros for an entire weekend. The service is also simple and practical, with the rented car accessible via car rental applications and an integrated electronic box. Rented cars also benefit from a free subscription for car parks near each station. The disadvantages of the system currently include various limits that may hinder users' movements. The system allows vehicles to be used for only two days within a limit of 200 kilometres. The cars available are small economy models, which will not be suitable for everyone. Finally, the system is currently limited to a few stations only. However, the originality of the offer and its attractive nature could well lead to a loss of revenue for car rental agencies in the future, if this system were to be extended to the whole country in the near future.