National has dethroned Enterprise as North America's leading rental car company for customer satisfaction in 2024.
J.D. Power released its annual North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study on Wednesday, analyzing the customer experience with North American rental car companies across seven core dimensions, including ease of rental; pick-up/drop-off; level of trust; vehicle; staff; value for price paid and digital tools.
National, which ranked second in 2023, came out on top with a score of 736 on a 1,000-point scale. Enterprise ranked second with a score of 729, followed by Sixt (708).
Alamo, which finished third last year, ranks fifth with a score of 701.
Overall, the industry's customer satisfaction came in at 688. That figure is considerably lower than previous years because the study was redesigned for 2024 and thus not comparable to past research.
Hertz came in just above the industry average at 692 while Avis was considerably lower at 669.
Advantage Rent a Car (702) and ACE Rent a Car (690) both edged out the 2024 average while Payless (683), Fox Rent a Car (655), Thrifty (653), Budget (647) and Dollar (634) all ranked below average.
Car rental lot. (Photo Credit: Artinun/Adobe)
This year's study found that loyalty hinges on trust and that the happiest customers have a seamless check-in experience and are able to access the vehicle they want. Meanwhile, increasingly complex in-car technologies are hurting customer satisfaction and could be a bigger issue in the years to come.
Slightly more than half of rental car customers (53 percent) indicated that it was very easy to operate the features and amenities in their vehicle.
"When customers feel that a company is genuinely focused on their needs and provides a seamless experience, they are more likely to trust that brand and choose it repeatedly," Azari Jones, rental car practice lead at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
"Trust fosters loyalty, enhances the company’s reputation and differentiates it in a competitive market," Jones added. "This leads to higher customer retention and positive word-of-mouth. Without this trust, even a well-known brand may struggle to maintain long-term relationships with customers."
This year's study was conducted from August 2023 through July 2024 and was based on responses from 8,379 business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location during the past year.
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