Hertz, the largest rent-a-car operator in Bulgaria, is planning to develop its operations in the country by offering long-term rental opportunities to companies, covering the transportation needs of their personnel, the company’s head for Bulgaria told the Echo.
The franchise of Hertz in Bulgaria has been operated by Autotechnica Ltd since 1996. It is a member company, which also includes the franchise operation of Hertz in Greece - the largest national franchisee of Hertz International worldwide.
According to Vangelis Kakouras, general manager of Autotechnica Ltd, the company also sees some serious prospects for attracting business visitors from international companies that are investing in Bulgaria, as well as in the growing leisure tourism market focusing on the sea and ski resorts of the country and including all other kinds of national attractions.
With their services growing by 40 per cent annually, Hertz Bulgaria see that the Bulgarian rent-a-car market will be among the fastest developing in the coming years.
The company is a leader in the domestic car hire market both in short and long-term rentals. In Kakouras’s view, this comes as a result of their intensive ongoing investments, high quality services provided - including well trained staff and perfectly maintained vehicles - and the strong international presence of Hertz.
Their long-term rental programme, called operating lease, is addressed to large investors in Bulgaria and today some of their biggest partners are the local subsidiaries of Coca Cola, Nestle, Delta and Solvay Pharma among others. As part of the programme, Hertz provides all-inclusive packages of services such as full maintenance, replacements, all main types of insurance, 24-hour on-the-road maintenance, accident management and the possibility to travel abroad.
Autotechnica operates its own offices in all major cities with airports in Bulgaria, including two large centres in the capital Sofia and the Black Sea city of Varna. In the summer, they also run seasonal location offices at the Black Sea resorts and coastal airports, and deliver cars to any place desired by the customer.
The Hertz fleet in Bulgaria today consists of more than 700 brand new cars in nine different classes, fully maintained by us, said Kakouras and pointed to those used by them as the economical class Hyundai Atos and comfortable car makes of Toyota, Ford, Seat Ibiza, Cordoba and Toledo. Special minibuses and jeeps like the Suzuki Grand Vitara, as well as the luxurious Audi A4 and A6 are among the bijous for rent.
According to Kakouras Hertz enjoys some serious competition in Bulgaria in the face of other rent-a-car companies under franchise agreements and some local firms. However, they find this competition “healthy”, generating better results for the market.
“We are considering the idea of establishing an association of rent-a-car agencies that will allow all of us to ensure the high level of services offered to our clients,” Kakouras said.
In his view, in the rent-a-car field, growth will come from the ongoing increase of leisure tourism throughout the country in all seasons. Business visitors will also keep increasingly generating further potential in rent-a-car business.
In the longer term, rentals like the operating lease (and it is a matter of time that more companies realise its potential), as in other more developed markets, will be extremely beneficial to any business. By outsourcing their car fleets to serious agencies with proven records and stability in high service levels, companies in Bulgaria will be able to solve many problems, Kakouras said.
“Just pass to us your daily headaches with the operation of your car fleet,” is the motto that drives the operation of the specially created unit Hertz Lease.