NEW YORK: Avis Budget Group Inc. once sprayed a faux new-car leather scent into its rental cars for a fresh aroma, but now it’s spritzing them with an antiseptic to ease customer fears of viral contamination.
"For many years we used a product that replicates a new-car smell,” said chief executive officer Joe Ferraro in an interview. "Now people want their senses to tell them that their car is safe, that it smells and looks clean.”
The company has partnered with Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, which makes Lysol disinfectant spray. Avis will start replacing or supplementing other cleaning products with this widely recognised brand to help promote its antiviral clean-car measures.
Avis wipes or sprays down 15 key touchpoints and plans to publicise its anti-Covid measures in hopes of grabbing a bigger share of leisure travellers.
Ferraro said customers increasingly are coming back to rent cars despite the coronavirus pandemic — and want a sense a car has been sanitised when they pick up a vehicle.
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Avis said on its first-quarter earnings call that revenue fell 80% in April and May but was expected to bounce back in June. There are some signs a recovery is under way, despite countervailing signals in the travel industry that an anticipated rebound may fizzle.
Website traffic for rental cars was down 21% year-over-year in June from a year ago after falling 28% in May, said Jefferies analyst Hamzah Mazari in a July 8 research report.
Even so, rental inquiries were up 33% over January while flight travel is still way off, indicating that leisure travellers are driving more to get to vacation spots, the report said.
Avis may be able to grab market share from Hertz Global Holdings Inc. since that company’s management is more focused on exiting bankruptcy, Mazari said.
Avis is ready to serve any defecting Hertz customers, said Ferraro, but attracting business in the current environment is all about providing a germ-free experience.
"If people feel they are in a safe environment, they will travel,” Ferraro said.
