Originally Posted by
oftech
As xienon mentioned, the covid and chip shortage days are well behind us. Every manufacturer is pumping out inventory like they used to, so EHI (and all rental companies) are no longer forced to buy higher trim models because that's all that was available. We had a good 2 year run with the nicer trims, and I made it a point to note that in the surveys whenever I got them, in the hopes they would continue to mass order them. But alas, the base models have returned. Now the flip/positive side of inventory availability is the higher mileage cars are, at least in my general experience, being kept out of exec/aisle. If given the choice between a new, but base model something, and a 2 year old top trim with 45k miles and mismatched tires, I'll take the base model.
I blame the general consumer not only for the disappearance of the sedan, but for all rental companies' compact SUV craze. While I'd wager to think a lot of us on the forums are looking for something luxurious or sporty or just different, that's not the behavior I see when the bus arrives at the lot or the people mover pulls up to the conrac. Most folks walk right past different and into the first Rogue, RAV4, CX-5, Escape, Equinox, etc that they see. This mimics the overall automotive market where the SUV, no matter how small, compact, or generally useless it is, reigns supreme. To me, though, those will only be choices if there's nothing else interesting and we're slowly heading down that path, unfortunately.
One thing that are quickly disappearing from the aisles this year have been luxury brands available fairly consistently. They were always quick to go, and part of it is manager/station dependent, but an A4/A5, CLA, Q3, X1 would usually be present in exec and replaced by another rather quickly. Lately I only see luxury nameplates begrudgingly added to exec when nothing else is available, or when a porter just happens to park it and a manager hasn't had a chance to move it. They're pounced on even faster than the compact SUVs!
I only started renting from National in 2017 and didn't rent frequently until post-2020, but I do recall routinely seeing nice vehicles in EE. Perhaps I was just spoiled because my most frequented location was PIT, which has always been among the best in my experience.
I agree on the compact SUVs. if I have to settle for another Mazda CX-5 because it's the only vehicle with leather seats, I might as well stop paying the premium for National. I hope National will be ordering the new Dodge Charger since they seem wedded to Stellantis. That is at least an interesting vehicle.