Keeping up with the global trends, the car rental industry in UAE has seen massive transformation in the last decade. New technologies like driverless cars and smartphone apps have changed how you rent a car in Dubai. The creation of new ride-hailing, carpooling and ridesharing avenues, has forced older players to innovate.
Today, consumers want everything to be as fast and frictionless as possible, including when they travel and rent a car in Dubai.
As Ola, Uber, and Lyft gained popularity, car rental sales did see a temporary drop but they are two completely different markets with minimal overlap. Ridesharing is a popular alternative to taxis and public transport but it doesn’t give you the freedom and autonomy to rent and drive your own car wherever you want. Many rental companies offer their compliant cars to Uber and Lyft drivers, as this is a good way to increase their bottom line instead of letting the cars stand idle.
Other Ways Technology Is Changing How You Rent A Car In Dubai
Self-driving cars – Autonomous cars are driverless cars that don’t require human input for navigation. Many brands and industries have already developed their version of self-driving cars including SUV car rental in Dubai. It is predicted that this will decrease transportation costs and the number of accidents while guaranteeing passenger safety.
Smartphone revolution – Apps have made reservations and payments easier with live updates on current offers. A customer can now calculate a rough idea of their budget including:
- gas
- insurance
- car add-ons
- upgrade expenses
While it is convenient and cost-effective to rent a car in Dubai, it used to involve standing in line, hassling salespeople, arguing about add-ons, etc. Now consumers have more autonomy to choose the right car and features for themselves. As a result, customers anticipate a nice experience when they rent a car in Dubai.
Digital Payments – The world is very fast-paced and plans change in the blink of an eye. When customers rent a car in Dubai they want to get immediate upgrades/services, extend their rental agreement, or book cars from another country. Secure digital payments make the transactions painless and instant.
Connected Car Technology – Connected car technology lets you monitor your whole fleet whenever you want using GPS technology and tracking software. You can now know how many cars are in service and the location of each car. Thus, stolen rental vehicles are a thing of the past now. If you haven’t adopted this technology yet, you’re missing out on providing more effective local rideshare car rental services.
GPS Technology – Continuing from our previous point, GPS technology in cars and mobile phones has made navigation easier for passengers. Now they can go to unfamiliar locations when they rent a car in Dubai without a hitch. This has increased the safety and longevity of rental cars.
CaaS – Disruptive apps like AirBnb, Uber and Lyft have changed the idea of ownership in many youths. We’re moving from owning cars to Cars-as-a-Service. Luxury vendors are keeping a fleet of electric vehicles like the Tesla Model X and many others.
There’s a clear shift towards:
- pay-as-you-go models
- subscription-based payments
- short-term car rentals
Conclusion
As we can see, the way you rent a car in Dubai has greatly evolved and improved with the advent of new technologies. Public transport is now becoming more of an outdated concept as the standard of living increases. Now it’s convenient for first-time visitors to get an SUV car rental in Dubai from their flight itself or they get ridesharing apps for some time.
Meanwhile, car rental agencies who keep up with technology will have a more strategic approach to their business, leasing out their cars to ridesharing drivers and getting software that will make payments, monitoring, and tracking easier.
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