Eugene, Ore.
— The cost of car rental in the U.S. dropped to $1.3 million in January, according to a new report from NPD Group.
NPD found that car rentals in Eugene — which has a population of almost 1.2 million people — were down 7.4% from a year earlier.
The average car rental fee in the Portland metro area fell to $8.85 per month in January.
The report shows that car rental costs are down from January 2016, which was the first month since 2009 that car costs were below $1 million.
According to NPD, there are 2,400 car rental services in the United States, with a combined capacity of nearly 3.3 billion miles.
Car rental companies like CarRental.com and CarRentalshare.com reported that they saw a surge in car rental traffic last year.
However, car rental companies also reported that their traffic has declined, and car rental car rental growth slowed this year.
“We’re still seeing a huge surge in new car rental listings, and that trend is accelerating,” said Jeffery Leventhal, senior director of market insights at NPD.
“But the declines in rental traffic are also being driven by people using car rentals to escape the heat, commute, or travel to or from work, and not being able to get a place in time for the holidays.
In short, it’s an expensive way to get around the country.”
The report notes that car-rental companies have a lot of competition for rental listings.
The rental industry has seen a dramatic shift over the past several years.
Renting is now considered the most popular form of transportation.
The number of people who rent cars, including Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, has skyrocketed over the last two years.
The most popular cars for people to rent in the US, according the NPD report, are: Tesla, Model S, and X. The company expects its car rental business to grow by an average of 50% per year over the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, rental car companies are also seeing a drop in their car-related business.
“They’ve been very well regulated, and have done a lot to mitigate the risks posed by car sharing and driverless cars,” said Leventhi.
“I think the fact that car sharing is so much more popular and less regulated is likely a factor.”
Car rental prices in Portland, Oregon, are currently $1,865 per month, which is the lowest in the metro area.
In 2016, there were an average price of $1:4,500 per month.
Leventha expects the cost of renting cars in the Oregon metro area to continue to drop, but the drop could be even more steep.
“For a lot, people are going to get rid of their car, so there’s no need to go into rental,” he said.
“If they do go into a rental, I’m sure it’s going to be an awesome experience.”