Voler looks to capture self-drive car rental space

Delhi-based self-drive car rental service provider Voler is looking to capture major space with its knowledge of the industry and operational expertise to manage 2,000 cars and multiple offices in India, a top official of the company has said.

"While the industry opportunity has been existing in the country for a long time, the market is still untapped. This is where we step in with our advanced knowledge of the industry and operational expertise to manage a large fleet of cars," Vikas Parasrampuria, founder and chief executive of Voler, told IANS on the phone.

The on-demand self-drive car rental market has been growing. The rising urban population, growth in personal disposable income and growing preference towards car travel for long-distance leisure trips have spurred its growth.

Although there are a lot of players like Zoomcar, Carzonrent and Revv in the fray, experts believe that the market for self-drive is still at a nascent stage in the country.

According to Ken Research, the Indian car rental market's revenues will grow at a considerable CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) and is expected to touch Rs.800 billion by 2019. The growth is largely driven by increasing penetration of Internet and mobile apps.

"We aim to reach consumers and offer them an alternative to owning a car. Our services are far more affordable and accessible. Traditionally, self-drive companies ask their customers to come at their pickup locations to rent a car. We intend to change this age-old tradition by reaching the customers at their doorsteps and collecting the car back once the trip is done," the chief executive said.

The company, which was launched in August, claims to have registered 500-plus users on its platform and serviced more than 4,000 plus hours in the first 20 days of its launch. It expects to grow at 80 percent per month.

"We are also in the process of adding more cars to the fleet with models from Audi, Toyota and others," the chief executive said.

Elaborating, Parasrampuria said: "While we make our services accessible with our low cost delivery model, we also understand how important the use of technology is. All our cars are already wired with a sophisticated black box, which gives us inputs on a real time basis about the car, its speed, location, and several other important parameters, ensuring the safety of the user."

"Our black box is also capable of reading our user's driving style, thereby helping us rate our consumers. This data will help us plan loyalty programmes and offer better discounts to our users in the future," he added.

The company is expected to garner Rs.35 crore in the current fiscal.

(Anirban Ghoshal can be contacted at anirban.g@ians.in)