Car rental sector challenged to innovate

PLAYERS in the car rental industry should progress from merely renting out cars to offering mobility solutions, such as leasing, subscriptions and organised tours, a leading car rental entrepreneur has said.
Speaking during the recent addition of the new fleet of top-of-the-range cars and quad bikes to his company’s fleet, Yarutso Investments founder and chief executive, Victor Madzedze said the sector risked becoming irrelevant due to the failure to move with the times.
“The sector needs to move with the times and quickly adopt emerging trends such as self-driving cars, electric vehicles and the use of artificial intelligence to enhance customer experience.

Yarutso Investments founder and chief executive officer, Victor Tawanda Madzedze.

“To meet customers’ requests, car rental enterprises should offer a diverse menu of transport options for the benefit of users and the environment,” said Madzedze.
Though happy with the progress his company has made since its launch in 2019, Madzedze conceded that the local car rental sector was being held back by several challenges.
“Funding is difficult to come by. Most businesses have to bootstrap and this slows down the quality of service. Additionally, the industry has a lot of unregulated players who can shortchange clients and damage the industry reputation thereby affecting the regularised players,” he said.
Yarutso Investments, a holding company for Yarutso Car Rental and Yarutso Adventure Services with footprints in Zambia and Zimbabwe, came about in 2019 after Madzedze was inspired by an uncle.
“My uncle who lived out of town used to ask to use my car for a few hours whenever he was in Harare.
“After completing his errands, he would always bring back the car with a half tank of fuel and would also give me $30.
“This then planted an aha moment for me to say what if there are more people who have a need for mobility at an affordable price.

“The next thing I asked a friend to do a flier for me and that is how we birthed Yarutso Car Rental,” he told this publication.
Four years on, Yarutso Car Rental has now established itself as a prominent player in the sector.
“I started the business with one Toyota Vitz 2006 model, but the business now manages 20 rental cars and six quad bikes. We have a car rental branch in Harare.
“We have now become a relatively big brand in the car rental sector with regards to customer satisfaction and brand popularity.
“The brand Yarutso is highly-rated on Google reviews with about 4.8-star rating and over 80 reviews, making it one of the most preferred car rental players in the country,” Madzedze said.