The HAK Rent-a-Car company will be engaged in the renting out of vehicles on a commercial basis, which is a bold move considering the fact that this particular sector almost ''died'' because of the coronavirus crisis.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 9th of June, 2020, the Croatian Auto Club (HAK) is in the process of forming its daughter company HAK Rent-a-Car, which, as its name quite obviously suggests, will be engaged in renting out cars on a commercial basis - but with a focus on clients as opposed to tourists.

The company was registered on March the 19th, 2020 in the midst of the ensuing coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that soon followed, so it is only now that the project is being completed.

Thus, last week, a tender was announced for the director of that company, who is required, in addition to possessing the standard managerial skills, to have at least three years of experience in such a job.

Although at the moment it seems a bit bizarre to start a business in a sector that is in a major crisis, HAK says that this is a strategic move that has been planned for a long time, and that the coronavirus crisis itself shouldn't have a serious impact on their plans, nor on the business of the future company.

As Alan Vojvodic of HAK points out, the decision to establish a new company was made by the Croatian Auto Club based on an existing long-term strategic development plan, which was adopted before the coronavirus epidemic struck.

"The decision was based primarily on the need to cover the mobility services of our members and the development of membership benefits, and our expectations aren't related to the upcoming tourist season, they're long-term," says Vojvodic.

According to the HAK website, there are more than 227,000 active members of the association. As recently confirmed from the Rent-a-Car (RAC) coordination of the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), due to the focus of this industry primarily being on foreign tourists, especially those who arrive in Croatia by plane, the business of these companies has been reduced by 100 percent in recent months.

They pointed out illiquidity as the biggest problem, because due to the lack of work, they don't have the money to pay the fixed costs that go hand in hand with such a businesses. After the crisis, the issues of airport operations (ZL), leasing companies and vehicle registration are enormously important topics to tackle for the RAC sector.

They add that airports around the world, as well as those here in Croatia, will sooner or later resume normal operations and put their usual resources back into action. However, this is not the case with RAC companies, which mostly belong to the small and medium-sized enterprise segment, where both employment and liquidity have unfortunately been greatly jeopardised, and a longer-term crisis could lead to further permanent business closures.

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A truly glorious Dalmatian day today, and I swear I got a little bit sunburnt in the midday sun as I had coffee on the square in Jelsa with a friend. It turns out we are both going on the early catamaran to Split on Monday, I for about 19 meetings, he to collect his van which is being serviced in Bosnia. I asked him how he would get there.

"I will rent a car and take a friend to drive the van back. You cannot believe how cheap car rental is in Split. There is a company called Oryx with a special offer on until the end of the month, and it is less than 15 euro a day. Unbelievable."

We went our separate ways, I back to the computer and I decided to see if it really was true. And... it is. Some rather fabulous deals (albeit it the current deal is until February 28):

WV UP EUR 13,14
VW POLO, SEAT IBIZA, ŠKODA FABIA EUR 15,79
VW GOLF, SEAT LEON EUR 21,10
AUDI A4 , VW PASSAT EUR 52,94
The price includes: 1 day rental , CDW and TP, 500 km.

The price does not include: additional insurances (PAI, CDW+ i WUG), fuel and VAT 25%.

Prices are based on the exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank on 29 October 2012 (1 EUR = 7,537 HRK)

Long term rentals start at 2,280 kuna a month. Check it out for the latest deals on the Oryx website.

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