Private car or rental? Here's who prefers what | Formulapassion.it

Tell me who you are and I'll tell you if you prefer to have your car in the garage or access other forms of mobility. This is more or less the hemisphere of action in the singular survey on the habits of Italians conducted by an international provider of premium mobility services, in collaboration with the University of Pavia, on a sample of potential users (1026 participants , 50.3% men and 49.7% women, aged 18-65 years). As a mobility service provider, SIXT asked the University to explore the national perspective on alternatives to vehicle ownership. And what came out…?

Behind the wheel with a diploma…

For example, those who are more willing to evaluate alternative mobility solutions to private ownership of the vehicle usually belong to the so-called middle class, have at least a high school diploma if not a degree and belong to an income range between 21,000 and 30,000 euros. Not only. The more the educational qualification increases, the more the interest in owning a car decreases, which, vice versa, remains the preferred option for 44.7% of respondents with an educational qualification equal to a middle school diploma. Among those who have never tried rental, but who declare themselves to be possibilities, it is interesting to note the class-by-class data, where there is a tendency towards equal distribution. The possibility of accessing the service, in fact, is taken into consideration by approximately 30% of each class, homogeneously across the entire population.

Males versus females

But that is not all. On the rental front there is a lot of distinction between the female public who prefers more conservative positions (14%) compared to the male public (86%), especially during the weekend. On holidays the situation is reversed. In this context, the female sample is more likely (57%) to evaluate renting as an alternative to ownership than the male sample (42%), which represents the majority of renters.

The difference between Regions

There is also a clear distinction between the Italian regions, with the more possibility-oriented ones such as Trentino-Alto Adige and Val d'Aosta and the absolutely conservative ones such as Molise. Throughout the national territory, two models linked to rather different territorial scenarios are highlighted. In the first case, rental seems to be an option of greater interest precisely in the more populated regions such as Lombardy, Lazio and Campania. Added to these, in relation to the context – be it the rental or the company benefit – are variations of species, referable to the productive fabric of the country: this is the case of Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont which appear in the ranking when talking about company benefit. In the second case we are referring more to rental in the context of short and medium term leisure. Lombardy (27.7%), Lazio (24.4%) and Puglia (11.2%) are the regions where rental cars are used the most on weekends. “Finally, having to draw an identikit of the rental potential of tomorrow, it is possible to hypothesize a user with a high qualification, medium-high income and residence in the richest and most populous regions”, explains the investigation. “However, the projections must be intertwined with data collected and compared with the sector's scientific and non-scientific literature. Rental is an important topic when talking about alternative mobility solutions/new scenarios, but not the only one. Multi factors such as the commodification of the transport process, the new concept of urban and suburban transport and on-demand resources will shape the future of transport”.