According to Driving Futures several key work and lifestyle changes are driving the growth of car rental in the UK. These include reducing risk, controlling cost and creating a better fit between the vehicle and the journey.

Driving Futures identifies how car rental is becoming a cornerstone of sustainable motoring in a new paper. It outlines the role of car hire in an age when motorised transport remains key to everyday living, and whilst businesses and individuals alike demand greater economic and environmental sustainability. The paper was developed by Enterprise Rent-A-Car and introduced by Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Parliamentary All Party Motor Group.

Government data indicates the number of cars in the UK has trebled over the past 50 years and is set to grow in the next 25 years as population continues to increase. UK households spend £14 billion per year on vehicles which they use to travel over 420 billion miles every year.

As car usage continues to grow, Driving Futures examines how a change in priorities is encouraging more people to consider car rental as an option.

Mike Nigro, Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s UK managing director, comments “There’s been a transformation in how a lot of people view ‘the car’. It’s no longer necessarily about owning more than one vehicle. Instead it’s about having access to the right car when you need it. Underpinning many of these trends is a push towards greater financial and environmental sustainability, but there are also other factors that are more related to changing work and lifestyle choices.

“Rental works by responding to the mobility needs of consumers in a wide range of different circumstances, at home, at work or on holiday, as a complement to vehicle ownership, and over a range of timeframes – one hour to several weeks or even months. Today we’re seeing demand start to move in a new direction, as new social and economic factors affect how people use and own vehicles.

“Because sustainability goes beyond vehicle provision, this paper also looks at how the rental industry contributes to our greater economic prosperity by providing careers and employment, supporting communities and investing in new social programmes and scientific research.

“We’re at the beginning of an era when car hire can truly show its value, as long as providers continue to get the product and the service just right.”

Richard Burden, MP and chair of the Parliamentary All Party Motor Group, said, “If we are to achieve a low carbon future we have to ask, how can we achieve a more sustainable transport system, reducing the environmental burden of road transport whilst supporting personal and economic well-being?

“We need to consider how, when, where and why people use cars. To look at how we can support both the development and the promotion of low carbon technologies. How we can encourage changes in attitudes and behaviour so that people drive more sustainably.

“These are not easy questions but ‘Driving Futures’ is a very helpful starting point and I am pleased that Enterprise Rent-A-Car are taking forward initiatives towards more sustainable motoring.”

The Paper comes just several weeks after Enterprise Holdings, Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s parent company, released its first Annual Sustainability Report.

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