Sunny Cars expects another good financial year. “Our goal is to match the number of 785,000 bookings of last financial year,” Kai Sannwald, founder and CEO of Sunny Cars, said Thursday during the annual ’round table’ with international press, which took place this year at the Dutch headquarters in Haarlem. The new financial year, which runs from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024, is off to a good start at Sunny Cars. In the first quarter (November 1, 2023 to January 2024), Sunny Cars was able to record 225,000 reservations. This is considerably more than in the same period of the previous financial year. In fiscal year 2023, Sunny Cars achieved a turnover of 374 million euros with 785,000 bookings. The goal for 2024 is to achieve the same number of bookings, with a lower turnover of 316 million expected. An important reason for this is a decrease in the average rent, which was much higher shortly after corona, but has now stabilised. “Everything is getting back to normal,” Sannwald said. ‘Moreover, we like to keep our prognosis conservative.’ Trend
According to Sunny Cars, there is a clear trend to secure the rental car early, a recommendation that the company has been making for years because the customer still has plenty of choice in the type of car. For example, in December 2023, more than half of all reservations were made for a travel period between March and December 2024. Another piece of good news is customer appreciation. The car rental specialist has received a score of 4.7 out of 5.0 on Trustpilot. For Sunny Cars, this is proof that service and quality have been rightly chosen. There is also a lot of appreciation from the industry for Sunny Cars, which was once again rewarded with the Holiday Award for best Car Rental Provider at the end of January during the Travel Gala of TRAVel Media (including TravMagazine and Travelpro). In short, quality pays off, says the group, which was founded in Germany in 1991 and is now active in seven European countries. This year, Italy was added as the seventh market. “With our rental cars, you don’t run any risks. We also apply this principle in our business operations,” says founder Sannwald. ‘We are optimistic about 2024. Thanks to a strong financial year, we are able to make further future-oriented investments, as the profit remains within the company. This allows us to focus on high quality rather than quantity.’ After the shortage of rental cars, which arose after the corona pandemic and the price explosion that resulted, the market has calmed down again. While the cost of airfare and accommodations has increased significantly since last year, the price of car rental will develop in the opposite direction in 2024. “After the price explosion in 2022, rents have slowly stabilized at a lower level in 2023,” Sannwald confirms. “We expect average prices to be even more favourable this year.” According to Sannwald, this can already be seen at the start of the financial year: in the first few months, the average rent was 466 euros. A year earlier, this was still 536 euros. Even the exceptionally high prices in the U.S. are falling slightly. However, with an average rent of 943 euros, it is still well above average. “Enlightenment is the key word for the supply-side situation,” says Sannwald. “Fortunately, the shortage of rental cars is a thing of the past. By 2024, there will be plenty of rental cars.’ Nevertheless, the advice is to secure the car early due to the huge demand for rental cars in popular holiday destinations, especially during the peak season. In 2024, there are likely to be occasional bottlenecks again, especially for the popular small car category. Popular with car renters are the classic destinations on the Mediterranean, but the US is also popular again. However, Spain, including the islands, is expected to top the list of top countries in 2024 as well. Section “As a partner of the travel industry, the travel trade is and will remain extremely important,” emphasizes Hans Knottnerus, Managing Director Netherlands, Belgium and France. “That’s why we’re investing a lot in this area. Our goal is to provide our resellers with the best possible service and to ensure satisfied customers together. Also this year you will see us at the most important events to pass on our knowledge. But we also organize a number of events ourselves. The pub quiz in collaboration with Sunair is back, an evening where knowledge and fun are combined. The successful Smile Society Event will also return in September. ́ The personal digital travel assistant Sunny2go that tenants can use is continuously updated. Recently, even more features have been added, including AI-based, personalized city tours and new travel information. There is also a 1GB eSIM that customers can use at the destination. Drivers can also use additional features to find a parking space in faraway countries, eliminating the need for driving in circles. Photo: Team Sunny Cars (from left to right): Detlef Hoffmann, Thorsten Lehmann, Suzanne Al, Hans Knottnerus, Alena Wasmer and Kai Sannwald.
