That being said, the main question that people have is why are car rental companies doing so good? Of course, this is not just a question for companies like Getaroud, but for all rental companies. According to most experts, this is something that has to do with the fact that most people are renting instead of buying these days. This holds true not only for the car rental industry, but for other industries as well. For example, more people are looking to rent apartments now instead of buying a home. People are looking to rent movies through services like Netflix instead of buying movies as well. Some are even renting video games by way of Gamefly rather than buying them.

For the people who do not drive much every week, renting a car for a few hours is a much better deal than owning a car. This is because the person renting does not have to pay for car insurance, and they do not have to pay for property tax. The CEO of Getaround, Sam Zaid, said that their main goal right now is to solve the problem of car overpopulation. He said that right now there are some 250 million cars that just sit around unused for more than 22 hours every single day.

Newry-based Crash Services, said the new sights would bring its services directly to drivers in Northern Ireland, with the first site to open at Stockman’s Lane on the M1 this week.

Sales and marketing director of Crash said that the company’s success had been built around customer service and they had identified a genuine need for Crash Repair Solutions.

He went on to say the company was offering a concierge service for busy motorists who had been involved in an accident and wanted hassle free car hire and repair solutions.

Motorists who utilise the service would be able to turn up at one of the new sites, drop off their damaged car, and drive away with a hire car in a matter of minutes.

Northern Ireland experiences about 2,000 vehicle accidents each week, and with the opening of the new locations, they predict that many drivers would receive a hassle free experience for road users who had unfortunately been involved in a road accident.

The company hopes to open another site in Newry in March, as well as other sites in the province later this year and in 2011.

Crash Services has 50 staff, and has been running for 14 years.

The company said it had outperformed the UK accident management sector by about 30 per cent this year and had delivered a year on year growth, in spite of a severe decline in the sector.

Police took the specially-adapted 18-seat Hummer while it was parked outside Belle Vue stadium after a dispute over the driver’s license.

Owner of the car Jason Earl, had to organise another limo from a competing company to pick up his customers after their night at the dogs.

He is adamant that police were in the wrong for impounding his car and now is seeking £1,500 in compensation.

His car was off the road for two days and was forced to pay a £190 fee to secure the release of his car.

The car has now returned to service with the same driver at the wheel.

Mr Earl, who owns the Wigan-based Earl’s Limousines, insisted that his driver had a license enabling him to drive large busses, which his Hummer requires by law as it has over 16 seats.

He said officials were presented with a license which showed the driver was licensed for large commercial busses.

However, the Hummer was seized anyway after officials checked the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency database, which suggested that the driver could not work for hire or reward.

Mr Earl claims that the police got it completely wrong, and wonders how many other drivers have been pulled over in the same position.

Greater Manchester Police are now looking into the incident.

The service was launched considering London can be a hectic place to travel and park, and customers wanting to hire a car are often faced with the prospect of arranging transport to the car rental outlet, or pay for the car to be delivered to their home.  But, Sixt is now offering a solution with the option of being collected by a Sixt representative or to collect the vehicle at a branch.

The new service is free to any customer who hires a car for over three days from any of the fifteen Sixt locations in London, and applies to rentals starting between Monday and Friday, with free-pick up from any address within a five mile radius of a Sixt location.

The offer is available until the 31st of March this year.

Sixt operations director Bob Baillie, believes the offer would be a hit with London hirers, saying that driving in London can often be tedious and customers that face a long journey in a hire care often don’t want to face busy public transport before they have picked up their car.  The new pick-up service would offer those customers a hassle free way to arrive at the Sixt branchy to pick up their car.

Customers wishing to take advantage of the pick up service can call their nearest six branch once they have completed the reservation.

Sixt is one of the largest car hire firms in the UK, and offers a first class service with over 26,000 vehicles from over 150 rental outlets in Britain.

Car rental industry consultants Abrams, found that the average weekly price for a small car at an airport in the US jumped by 51 per cent from 2008 levels, to $335.05 in 2009.

President of Abrams Consulting Group, Neil Abrams, said that rates will continue to be on the rise this year, as many rental firms have significantly reduced their fleets, giving them leverage to increase prices.

The report revealed that the fleet of some rental firms fell by 25 per cent on average across the industry in 2009, and they were down by about 50 per cent compared with several years ago.

As fleets have shrunk over the past two years, demand in 2009 fell by about 20 per cent across the industry, according to the survey.  As a result, car hire companies were able to increase prices.

Rental car firms are expected to gradually increase fleet sizes as demand increases over the year.

The proposed multi-storey facility is anticipated to house six airport car hire providers as well as other car rental agencies located near the airport.

The purpose of the building is to improve the rental car experience for visitors to Honolulu and create operational efficiencies and economies of scales.

As of October, the state of Hawaii had raised almost $12 from a $1 per day car hire tax which took effect in September 2008, and lawmakers have passed the surcharge to pay for design and construction of the consolidated car hire facilities.

The new car hire facility, which is expected to open in 2013, could partly funded by raising the current $1 a day tax to as much as $5 per day, which could raise up to $16 million a year for the state.

At present, car hire firms including Avis, National, Budget, Hertz and Dollar share an open-air facility at the airport.

Other consolidated rental car facilities exist at other airports in the US, including Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Costs vary widely and include $170 million spent in Las Vegas and a $419 million five-story facility now being built at the Seattle-Tacoma airport.

President of the not-for-profit watchdog Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Lowell Kalapa, agreed that the car hire facilities at Honolulu International airport needed to be upgraded, but questioned why the state proceeded with a design for a contract for the facility before choosing a location or identifying the project’s cost.

After the festive season, Sixt plans to ease the winter blues with a range of low prices on car and van hire across London, with many customers already taking advantage of the offer.

One of the more popular models includes the Volkswagen Golf, a great car to zip around the city in, which can be rented for £29 per day, including SatNav.

Sixt are also offering £29 van hire, with the Ford Transit, an option definitely worth considering when taking advantage of the post-Christmas sales.

Customers can take advantage of this offer by booking through Sixt’s website or using mobile devices, such as iPhone or Blackberry, and Android applications, and can pick up a car at one of the 15 locations across London including King’s Cross, Battersea and Ilford.

Six has a rental fleet of 26,000 cars in 150 locations across the UK, specialising in a variety of cars including luxury models from Mercedes, Audi and VW.

The credit crunch saw many car hire firms unable to upgrade their fleets and downsize their fleets, which created major problems with supply and demand.  This was evident in locations across Europe during the summer peak travel season this year, especially in holiday destinations in Spain such as Malaga, Alicante and Valencia, when customers who sought car hire struggled to find a hire car, while those who were fortunate enough to find a vehicle were forced to pay extra-high prices.

According to car hire comparison website Carrentals.co.uk, some vehicle hire prices have increased by 96 per cent over the past 12 month period between 2008 and 2009.

Locations with the biggest increases according to the website include Gibraltar airport, which witnessed an £8.16 per day increase (65 per cent), Alicante airport which increased by £11.23 a day (up 87 per cent), and Toulouse airport, which saw the biggest increase of £23.07 per day (up 96 per cent).

Managing director of Carrentals.co.uk Gareth Robinson said the global recession has had a big impact on fleet sizes over the year, as many companies have been unable to increase the number of vehicles to cope with seasonal demand due to the lack of funding from banks.

He pointed out that without finance from banks, car rental firms are forced to cope with a limited supply of vehicles, causing a reduced availability in many locations, which is a trend to continue into 2010.

EasyCar spokesman Owen Coles agreed, saying that while general expectations are that the economy would improve in 2010, the instability of the financial climate makes the situation unclear as to how easy it would be for companies to obtain finance for fleet expansion.

He said that fleet sizes in 2010 would be the same as 2009 and warned that similar car hire shortages could take place in peak periods, such as over summer Christmas and public holidays.

Those who are planning their holidays for 2010 are being strongly advised to reserve their car hire with plenty of time to guarantee the best deal.

The annual Europcar Observatory, an independent survey of 5,000 drivers across Europe found that 45 per cent of Brits had changed their manner of driving in some way to help save the environment, compared with 54 per cent in mainland Europe.

But in a sign of a change in thinking when it comes to car ownership, of those who have already changed their driving habits, 79 per cent are already using car hire in some form, with mostly the under 35s age bracket having the biggest impact.  In the survey, over 50 per cent of drivers in this age range said they planned to give up their car and 60 per cent would opt for a car share service instead.

But as 45 per cent were happy to drive differently to be green, Britons are not yet ready to make the change to a hybrid or an electric car, compared with 65 per cent of drivers in Europe.  The study showed that European drivers had a higher exposure and greater experience with alternative fuelled cars, with 30 percent having driven one compared to only 18 per cent in the UK.

Marketing director of Europcar, Catriona Lougher said it seemed that most households were doing their bit by recycling, using low voltage light bulbs and turning down the thermostat, but when it comes to maintaining the car, keeping the green message at the front of the mind was still a challenge.

She said that a car is still considered a status symbol in the UK and that using a more cost efficient car or changing driving habits by easing off the pedal or using the car less was still not a priority for most British drivers.

She pointed out that Europcar was making green car hire more accessible to customers by offering free delivery and collection to a fleet comprising some of the newest and most fuel-efficient vehicles on the market, including hybrids.

The company said that over 40 per cent of its 2010 model year purchases were vehicles with highway ratings over 30 miles per gallon.  Only approximately 10 per cent of Dollar Thrifty’s 2009 models purchased reached that mileage threshold.

Dollar Thrifty believes the 10 per cent improvement in the vehicle fleet’s average fuel mileage rating is expected to save customers approximately $35 million in fuel costs, from using 13.5 million fewer gallons of petrol.

The company announced in October that it had diversified its fleet mix for 2010 models across a wider range of cars from different suppliers.  More fuel-efficient models to enter the 2010 fleet include the Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu and Aveo, Nissan Versa and Hyundai Sonata.

This has been as a big shift in focus from a company which traditionally had a fleet consisting of larger and less fuel-efficient models such as Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles.

The US based company’s brands include Dollar Rent a Car and Thrifty Car Rental and have over 600 corporate and franchise locations in the US.