It all started one day, when Joe rented his car Ford, model T to the foreigner who was in business in town. It was 1916 and United States still had not entered in the World War I. The gentleman Saunders continued to rent his vehicles to other people who were in town, doing some business. He went even further and remember to install a kilometer meter to charge every passing mille, in order to compensate for wearing the vehicle. The business increased soon, so the company started to rent cars in other 21 countries. It was a huge success, back then.  

First rent a car services start in America

In the meantime, renting a car became the primary service in Valter Jacobs’ company. Based in Chicago, the company provided other activities besides renting a car. It is defined as a first opponent firm to Saunders firm. Jacobs’s firm started smuggling the alcohol which only made the entire rental industry looking bad. But, everything changed with the arrival of John Hers. He owned taxi company called Yellow Cab and decided to buy Jacob’s company. Soon, he developed one of the major rent a car companies in the world. He had around 1000 branch offices worldwide in the fifties. Each of them provided the services of rent a car. His company became the first international rental car company providing services in Asia.

Railways were in the public eye. People used to travel by train and due to that they used to rent a car for transportation from to the train station. That is why the first offices, rental car companies were opened at the railway stations. It seems the principle has not changed so far. If you had something to finish in the city, the best way to do it was by renting a car. And rent a car was usually done for these purposes. Once the job is done, the car could be returned to the brand office. Interestingly, reservations were possible. Reservations were made by sending a telegram. Telegrams were of the most important channels of communication. They were replaced by smartphones.

What followed was the development of planes and air industry. Rent a car companies moved their branch offices near the airports, because their new customers became people who usually travel by plane.

Rent a car in Europe - brief history

When it comes to the European continent, the first company that provided the services of renting a car was the French company Europcar. They started with this kind of business after the World War II in 1949. The European commerce made significant progress so rent a car over the years became very popular. Every town with the airport had at least one rent a car airport firm. The use of rent a car services was much more noticed in the Western Europe. Additionally, in France, Italy, Germany, due to their developed societies. After the fall of the Berlin wall rent a car industry made its first steps into the Easter European countries, which had started to develop their traffic infrastructure. In addition, the need for renting a car in these countries became more then obvious. Rent a car industry continued to develop with the traffic infrastructure. There were several changes, especially the form of making a reservation, from telegrams and phones to Internet.

Today, it is much different and much easier. Every rent a car company possess a website, where you can make a reservation. There is file you need to fill in the information about your departure and arrival.

Economical solution - rent a car 

Rent a car is the best solution if you want to take a thorough tour around the town without the tour guide and public transport. Renting a vehicle is appropriate for people who are in town doing business for a couple of hours. This kind of transport saves their time and money. They could prepare for the meeting, arrive on time and even catch a fly back to their homes. Rent a car is a great option if you are in town for the weekend and you only have two days for city tour. One the reasons renting a car gains the popularity is the comfort this transport vehicle offers. You could rent a car without a drivers. It is the main difference between it and taxes. And that is why many people decide to rent a vehicle. Clients decide if they want a driver or not. Statics show increase number of users around the world, even the number of users have increased in the last period. 

In order to rent a car, you need to have a valid driver license. There is a chance you may have to posses an international valid driver license if you want to rent a vehicle. It depends on the countries law. So it is recommended to be informed before going abroad. 

The expansion of the car rental users continues to grow. According to the experts, the right culminations will be reached in the near future.