Avis on expansion drive in India; eyes Rs 700 cr in 3 yrs

Car rental firm Avis India plans to expand its fleet to up to 8,000 cars in the next three years, entailing investment of around Rs 450 crore, as it looks to double revenues to Rs 700 crore.
The company, which has been providing service to hospitality sector and corporate clients, is also expanding its offering by adding self-drive car rentals in over 168 countries worldwide to their customers travelling for business or leisure from India.
"In 2010, we had a revenue of Rs 70 crore. Our target is to clock Rs 350 crore in March 2017. We need to keep growing at twice the market rate and in the next three years after 2017 our aim is to have a revenue of Rs 700 crore," Avis India Managing Director & CEO Sunil Gupta told PTI.

When asked about expansion of the company's fleet in order to meet the target, he said: "We keep adding cars. It will be around 7,000-8,000 as compared to the current 5,000 cars."
On the investment front, he did not share an exact number but said for the vehicles the company uses, the cost per car is around Rs 14 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
For an additional 3,000 units, it translates to around Rs 450 crore.

Bullish on growing at a health rate, he said the entire car rental and hire sector has been growing at around 12 per cent and the company has been growing at 25 per cent.

"We have been focussing on usage of technology and getting into new segments that has enabled us to grow at a healthy pace," Gupta said.
He said usage of satellite based tracking system has helped in preventing mis-billing and that has made it completely transparent while dealing with the clients.
"Moreover, cars in our fleet are safety compliant and in some cases even ahead of safety regulatory requirements. As a result, our corporate clients, mostly the MNCs which are particular about these issues, continue to take our services for their employees," he said.
On the company's expansion into new area of self-drive car rentals for customers in India while travelling abroad, he said it has been done keeping in mind the changing nature of Indian customers, who are now more willing to drive themselves.

"We plan to engage with travel agents, tour operator and travel management companies who have a strong focus on outbound travel," Gupta said.
Indians travelling abroad can use Avis' self-drive car rentals in over 168 countries worldwide, he added.