Car rental company Avis India is looking to expand its footprint in India over the next few years. The company plans to expand its fleet up to 8,000 cars in the next three years with an investment of around INR 450 crore. Avis targets a revenue of around INR 700 crore with the investment.

Avis has a global footprint because of which the brand not only offers rental services in India but also to Indian travellers travelling abroad. They will be looking to increase the number of countries where this service is offered.

The company targets to clock INR 350 crore in March 2017 and with the plan to grow strongly over the next three years, the rental company aims to have a revenue of INR 700 crore according to a statement shared by Avis India CEO Sunil Gupta with PTI.

Avis currently has a fleet of around 5,000 vehicles in India. The company plans to add another 3,000 with the infusion of funds for expansion. This will take their fleet close to 8,000.

The car rental space is expected to grow at around 12 percent while Avis has been registering a growth rate close to twice of that. Zoomcar and Myles are other fast growing car rental companies operating in India. Zoomcar claims to have a fleet of around 2,000 vehicles with presence across major Indian cities. The company recently an investment of USD 24 million led by Ford Smart Mobility. Myles has also been actively expanding its footprint in India with investments from parent company Carzonrent.

With Avis looking at growing further, we could very well expect the self-drive rental companies to penetrate deeper into the market and even start reaching Tier 3 cities.

The post Avis to take a stronger position against Zoomcar and Myles in India appeared first on TravHQ.

A space which was in the grey area only until a while back has now turned into a huge market opportunity for multiple players. For many of us, the freedom of having a personal mode of transportation takes a much higher priority than any other form due to the added flexibility over cabs. Which is why the self-drive rental cars are fast gaining popularity. More travellers are opting to drive themselves when at their destination instead of getting around with cab. Myles is one brand that is driving this global trend in the Indian market. We spoke with Sakshi Vij, Founder & CEO of Myles Cars to learn more about this industry. Here is an excerpt from the conversation:

How far has the self drive rental space come since you started? What were the key challenges with such a service in the early days?

The self-drive space has witnessed phenomenal growth in the last couple of years. We started with 14 cars and have now expanded to 21 cities with over 1000 cars. What started in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru has attracted interest in Tier-2 cities like Jaipur, Coimbature, Udaipur, Pune, Mysore and more. The positive response has encouraged us to introduce the concept to smaller cities and new markets.  In the next few years, we would bring in a fleet of 50000 cars in 50 cities spread across 5000 locations. The idea is to provide a Myles car every 400 meters in the cities.

In the times to come, we anticipate a few transport policy changes and support.

Currently, a self-drive renter has to stop at every inter-state tax terminal along with all drivers of other commercial vehicles to pay Inter-state taxes. Globally, the self-drive cars do not have to pay any inter-state taxes and are treated as private cars across the country.

What kind of users do you get mostly? Travellers? Locals looking for weekend drives? Enthusiasts trying out premium vehicles?

Myles is a product for the young urban professionals who hate to commit to assets they can have access to. Myles is most popular among Males/Females, in the age group of 24- 40, living in urban Indian cities. These are individuals who have ditched there personal cars for a more cost effective, flexible and convenient solution. The use cases vary from a housewife who takes our car for 2 hours every afternoon and does her daily shopping trip to a passionate traveler who wanted to drive from Delhi to Kanyakumari and therefore used a Myles car. We also cater to a large number of business travelers, NRI’s, Foreign Tourists amongst others.

It has been established that weekend gateways, short trips and vacations are increasingly getting popular. A young professional drives to work in his sedan, but may want a 4-wheel drive for adventure holidays. Myles gives you the liberty and flexibility to choose from the 38 car models depending the the occasion, mood and requirement.

With ownership costs constantly increasing, do you see people ditching their cars in favour of Myles or any other rental services or has this trend already started?

Myles is, unsettling the fundamental behavior of ownership, the shift has been observed where more and more customers prefer renting a car over buying one. The aim is to connect the user to a car. Offer commuters an alternative method of transportation which is cost-effective, saves time and flexible.

How do you see the competition in self-drive rental space? Are cab hailing companies also facing pressure from self-drive rentals or vice versa?

Myles is self-drive service unlike chauffeur driven cars. In fact we are complementary services. The need and budget of the consumer defines the service they choose. As Myles, we are creating and alternate ecosystem to car ownership. We therefore believe in collaborating with entities which currently support the car ownership ecosystem even though in a scattered fashion at present. This includes, Car Manufacturers, Car Service stations, Car cleaners, etc.

Any tips from your own journey with Myles that you would like to share for other entrepreneurs who are starting out?

I’ve been a strong believer of listening to the customers and analysing the data. The two are completely neutral, and ensure great learning for the future. Any organization that invests time and efforts in these will be able to stay strong in all market situations.

Myles is also our partner for the Hyderabad edition of Startup Knockdown. You can find more details about Myles at www.mylescars.com. Read about all the other partners for the event here.

The post Sakshi Vij, Founder & CEO of Myles talks about the self-drive rental market in India appeared first on TravHQ.

Women are an integral part of any social setting. They nurture, strengthen and serve as the backbone of the family and community. Technically there doesn’t go a day where we aren’t thankful enough for their unparalleled and selfless service. 8^th March marks the International Women’s Day when plight and achievements of women all over the world are celebrated. A lot is being done and a lot could be done to create gender parity as commonplace phenomena. Women have really proved their mettle in almost all spheres of politics, sports, education etcetera. They’ve been there, done that.

The entrepreneurial space is expanding like the universe. Women too are outdoing themselves, scaling sky-scrapping heights and their achievements are no longer secluded from the world. Here’s a list of few female entrepreneurs that have stirred the travel tech space alike and have made things work for them.

Sakshi Vij

Sakshi is a well-known name in travel landscape. She founded the self-driven car rental service, Myles, in 2013. Starting out, she worked as an advisory for Finoble Advisors and brought new business opportunities on the table. She later joined CIPL in 2007, as a marketing executive. Her industry acumen and skills saw Sakshi rise up the ladder to become Executive Director at CIPL. It is this when Sakshi spearheaded Myles campaign and made this brand a self-recognising name in the travel industry. Myles has today grown from 14 cars and three locations to over 1200+ cars and 250 locations with a presence in 21 Indian cities. It is the fastest growing self-drive mobility brand in the category.

Website: Myles

Ankita Sheth

Ankita Sheth is a Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships for Vista Rooms. Vista Rooms is an entrepreneurial venture under budget hotel aggregator segment. Before starting Vista Rooms a year ago, Ankita played an instrumental role in handling operations in Mumbai for OYO Rooms in their nascent stage which later came to be essential in its growth trajectory. Vista Rooms collates 700+ properties across 80+ locations pan India and is a provider of budget hotels in tier II and tier III market. She is an avid traveller and prefers to check on every accommodation herself before setting service standards. She is also a Social cause enthusiast who has been associated with Anna Hazare, Red Cross and a bunch of other NGO’s.

Website: Vista Rooms

Piya Bose

A corporate lawyer by profession, Piya Bose Desai found her dead end desk job entirely boring and founded Girls on the Go, a travel community that caters to solo female travellers. Over the years, she spent considerable time in Asia, Europe and USA. Piya started Girls on the Go with the objective of creating a platform where women could join in to check out a new destination and also be themselves. After quitting her full time job, she turned to a travel writer and researcher. She has written for prestigious publications like Outlook Traveller, Hindustan Times and websites like Makemytrip.com. She travels frequently within India and abroad, trying to pick up stories about places that are lesser known.

Website: Girls on the Go

Shefali Walia

Shefali Walia founded WeTravelSolo as a shout out to all the solo travellers without having to worry about the safety. She completed her business majors from Amity Business School and serves as a Business and Marketing Strategist to many start-ups and growth stage companies. WeTravelSolo focuses on giving the solo traveller the privacy he demands and the safety he needs. It is an online Solo Traveller Community that organizes special interest tours to cater the need of the privacy seeking individual traveller. These tours are specially designed by experienced trip crafters/ experts set on various themes to give a company of like-minded strangers in the safest and most comfortable environment possible.

Website: WeTravelSolo

Sudeepta Sanyal

The Blueberry Trails was founded by  Sudeepta Sanyal in 2010. She left her day job at 26 to commit to her travel bug and cater to group travellers to exotic destinations. Coming from an Army background, she is a highly centred individual and owes credit to her upbringing for her go-getter attitude. The Blueberry Trails currently have 42 countries, 400 destinations and 4000 itineraries on their portfolio. Growing at a 150% YOY, they add that extra bit to your holiday by adding local experiences, boast of a vetted on-ground team and will go all the way to make your travel hassle free.  They are currently working on an Automated Trip Planning model to reduce the turnaround time for Itinerary planning.

Website: The Blueberry Trails

These entrepreneurs set a great example for others to follow. We would love to hear your stories. Write to us at editor@travhq.com.

The post Women’s Day exclusive: 5 women entrepreneurs stirring up India’s travel space appeared first on TravHQ.

We have recently seen a rise in number of self-drive car rental services in India. Zoomcar, Myles, MiCar and recently introduced Voler offer wide range of cars across segments for rental trips. They are an excellent choice for people who don’t need a car everyday but need one for specific occasion such as when travelling with friends. Then there is a category of enthusiasts who rent premium cars for weekend fun and sheer experience.

Zoomcar’s recent emailer talks about their special plans for daily office commuters. To be honest we never saw this coming. We always thought Zoomcar was for those weekend outdoor trips and business executives who go to a different city. There are many countries where people are not buying cars and relying heavily on similar services but does it really make sense in India at this point? A debate broke out in our office immediately with opinions pouring in.

What is on table?

Zoomcar is offering cars starting at INR 2,400 for a week of 4 days (or INR 3,000 for 5 days). For that you get a Ford Figo for 4 days and 120 free kms. That gives you 30 kms for a day or 15 for one side travel to your work which is fair enough. For those who travel more for work, the same car is available with twice the free distance for INR 3,360. The car can be picked at 8 PM on Sunday and dropped off at the same time on Thursday.

The problem?

While the idea is attractive and prices justified, we couldn’t help but compare it to alternatives like taking a cab. The cab aggregators like Uber and Ola offer very low prices per kilometre and are readily available in metro cities where Zoomcar operates. While there are many who are not a fan of being driven around, it is probably the best idea on a weekday in rush hour traffic. Office hours in morning and evening are the only times when you wouldn’t want to be behind the steering wheel.

Of course the next thing we jumped at was the price. For an Uber ride of approx 14-15 kms, you will pay around INR 180 assuming the ride takes close to 40 minutes. The cars are comparable to Ford Figo and you can just sit back without having to struggle with the annoying traffic. Even after this, it turns out to be cheaper than Zoom Commute which is approximately INR 300 for the same one way ride.

Another factor is liability. While Zoomcar cuts down on many liabilities of owning a car, you are still responsible to some extent for safekeeping of the car. You will have to make sure you have a parking space both at work and your home, and we know about the parking mess in Tier1 cities of India.

There are many common routes which translate to longer distances than the upper limit of Zoom Commute. For instance, if you commute on the Delhi-Gurgaon/Delhi-Noida route, it is a given that you will exceed that daily limit and end up paying more per kilometre. It is appropriate for short distances, but there they are competing in a price war against on-demand taxi booking services.

TravHQ take

While Zoomcar is trying to promote their services among daily office goers, we do think they should adhere to the segment of travellers. Zoomcar is an excellent service and we will continue to look towards them whenever we need a big car for our weekend trips. However, the Zoom Commute just doesn’t justify itself very well. It would have made sense if there was a serious price advantage but as long as cab services are operating at such low costs to fight off the competition, it will be a tough battle for the likes of Zoomcar.

We appreciate that Zoomcar is putting in efforts to get more people to try such services and reduce the number of underutilised cars. You can find the cars and plans on their website here. Afterall it isn’t a bad idea to ditch your everyday drive for a week and go to work in a mighty SUV.

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