“While new technology promises to revolutionize car rental, success in this business will always be dependent on fleet management,” said Chris Brown, executive editor of Auto Rental News and conference chair. 

With this mantra in mind, the International Car Rental Show, celebrating its 25th year, will convene several seminars that will educate operators in fleet management best practices, from planning to acquisition and disposal.

In the seminar “Fleet Planning for 2020 and Beyond,” attendees will understand OEM supply developments specific to car rental, vehicle acquisition trends, and new developments in remarketing. 

Moderated by Mike Muehlenfeld of United MileFleet, panelists include Andy Wilson of United MileFleet; remarketing consultant Joe Lyons, and Mike DeLorenzo of NP Auto Group, owners of the Rent-A-Wreck, Priceless, and Nextcar brands. 

In “7 Signs of a Healthy Car Rental Company” panelists Garrett Kautz of 1st Source, Ben Rosenbloom of ACT Leasing Services, and Ian Kusinitz of Empire Car Rental will provide insights into fleet from the financial and operational sides. 

Moderated by consultant and former Hertz/Dollar Thrifty operator Brad Meyer, this session will explore essential debt and asset ratios, lending criteria fundamentals, quality financial statements, revenue per unit (RPU) metrics, fleet mix optimizations, residual value forecasting, and net holding cost models. 

Another seminar will examine the importance of fleet expertise in new business models. 

In “How Car Rental Can Supply and Profit from Vehicles as a Service," attendees will understand how they can leverage their fleet in new carsharing, peer-to-peer, and subscription services platforms by the hour, day, month, or longer.

The panel is comprised of Sylvano Carrasco of Getaround, Adam Steinberg of Fetch, and Julian Cowart of Cox Automotive. 

“All these new models have one thing in common — the need for fleet expertise,” says Brown. “When car rental operators break out of the daily rental mindset, they’ll find that their experience can translate across many platforms. It fits into my mantra, ‘Own the fleet, own the future.’”

The 2020 International Car Rental Show convenes March 22-24 at Caesars Las Vegas.