The history of car rentals

Renting a car is a common thing today, especially when you need vehicle to drive in a new town for a business travel, a vacation or a city break. However, few people know the history behind this industry.

Although it may seem surprising, the concept of car rentals has a longer history than you might think. As soon as cars were available to public, contractors identified an increased demand for rent.

The oldest car rental records came in 1904. A Minneapolis bike shop started renting cars for the first time. A few years later, in 1912, the German company Sixt was founded - one of the largest in the world - and first started with three rental cars, and then expanded rapidly.

In 1915, Joe Sanders from Nebranska, America, noted that no one in the area was actually renting cars, so he hired a sales agent and started renting a Ford Model T. Gradually, his company made a progress, having branches in over 85 states.

After the Second World War, the car rental industry began to grow more and more. Due to air travel, businessmen started to get the plane for their meetings, and when they reached their destination they needed a car.

In the '70s -' 80s, the big companies started to sell the old vehicles they had in their fleet to the public. Increased competition in the rent-a-car industry led to the return of tariff changes, as well as offers and promotions from companies.

In Romania, the first registered car rental company was Carpati rent a car, founded in 1942. The fleet of cars had a varity of vehicles from Dacia 1300, to Olcit or Citroen Ami.

Nowadays, companies are growing and diversifying constantly their fleet of cars in order to please the customers. Car rentals in Cluj can be found at Compexit Rent A Car, a company with over 20 years experience.