BCD Travel surveyed 919 business travelers across North America and EMEA in late 2023. The results are a useful reality check for anyone running a car rental operation.
The demand profile is clearer than you might expect. The typical renter is a Gen X or Baby Boomer male (76% male, 45% in each generation), traveling domestically for 2 to 3 days, picking up at the airport (93%), and renting an intermediate or standard vehicle (66%). Convenience drives the decision in 64% of cases, not price, not sustainability, not brand loyalty.
Pricing pressure is real but not dominant. 42% of travelers reported that car rental prices went up in 2023, yet satisfaction with suppliers remained high: 76% reported being extremely or somewhat satisfied. The gap between perceived price increases and maintained satisfaction suggests that travelers absorb pricing changes better than operators often fear, provided availability holds.
Availability is the sharper pain point. Among those who did report supplier issues, low fleet availability (33%) and poor availability of preferred car type (29%) ranked well ahead of high price (12%). Operators who price up without managing availability perception are solving the wrong problem.
Electric vehicles remain marginal for now. 81% of business travelers never rent electric cars. The top barrier is not price, it is logistics complexity (46%), meaning charging infrastructure uncertainty. This will shift, but slowly. For 2024-2025, operators can deprioritize EV fleet expansion and focus on what travelers actually need: the right car, at the right airport, at a price that matches the corporate booking tool.
One number worth keeping in mind: 88% of bookings happen through corporate online booking tools. Direct and aggregator channels represent less than 2% combined. For operators targeting the business travel segment, rate visibility in GDS and TMC-connected channels matters far more than direct website conversion.
