by Vangelis Mandravelis

The car rental market in Greece is showing satisfactory growth rates, as from 60,000 a few years ago, the number of vehicles available has now exceeded 100,000. Avis alone acquired 10,000 new cars last year, accounting for 10 percent of all new car registrations in 2018.

Avis managing director Andreas Taprantzis says that the growth recorded is mainly thanks to the increase in tourism flows, which favor short-term car rentals.

However, there have also been positive moves in the long-term leasing segment, mainly because of the change in mentality of the new generation of professionals: “Unlike previous generations, the new one is not aiming at owning their own home and car; the new generation today leans toward rental,” says Taprantzis.

The main driver behind this trend is the absence of costs in time and money for the cars’ maintenance; this, combined with a lack of easy financing for the acquisition of cars, serves to explain the growing interest in car rentals.

Avis has also introduced a new service, MyAvis, which is proving very popular as it allows customers to arrange for the long-term lease of a vehicle online in advance if they possess the right documents.

This article was previously published on ekathimerini.com.