Car leasing growing in popularity for New Year travel

The car leasing market is growing ahead of the 2010 New Year as Vietnamese families look to lease cars for holiday travel.

Nguyen Huu Trinh is a car driver for a foreign director of a company in Thang Long Industrial Zone. However, Trinh does not have a car of his own. Therefore, Trinh has decided to lease a car so his family can journey to the countryside where his parents live.

“However, Trinh complained, if you lease cars at this time, you have to pay 50,000 dong or 100,000 dong more for rent per day”

A Matiz is now the cheapest to rent at 300,000-400,000 dong (20 dollar) per day instead of 250,000 dong per day at other times.

A Lacetti, which previously had a rental price of 350,000 dong per day, is now leasing at 500,000-600,000 dong (33 dollar), while a Kia Morning is leasing at 600,000 dong (33 dollar) per day.

The rental of a Vios or Altis has jumped from 600,000 dong to 700,000 dong (38 dollar).

Luxury cars have much higher rentals. Toyota Camry, Toyota Innova and Honda Civic are being offered to lease at 1-1.2 million dong (66 dollar) per day.

The car leasing service has been booming for the last two years with some 300-400 service providers.

While many Vietnamese families now have cars thanks to growing incomes, and taxi services continue to develop, the car leasing market is still expanding.

Now, some car leasers are saying they have run out of cars to lease.

Nguyen Dinh Binh, director of My Man Car Leasing Company in Hanoi said that all his 20 cars are now booked up. However, Binh says he still receives 40 calls everyday to ask about leasing cars.

A VietNamNet reporter called Trang Minh Company and found out that the company now only has a Kia Morning to lease at 600,000 dong per day in rental, while Toyota Vios or Lacettis are all booked.

Trinh, who is a driver and understands the market, said a lot of investors have spent large sums of money to purchase luxury cars to lease.

Clients need only deposit 10-20 million dong (555-1,100 dollar) to lease a car.