Car Rental Cos. Offer Chauffeur Services.

<FONT SIZE="+3"><B> Car Rental Cos. Offer Chauffeur Services</B>

By Robert Selwitz

Bangkok - Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, American car renters in Asia quickly realize they're no longer in Kansas, or anywhere else with familiar ground rules. Urban traffic is among the world's worst, signs frequently are completely indecipherable (as in Japan) and left-hand-side driving is the rule, not the exception.

In fact, things can be so challenging that many U.S. corporations either ban or vigorously discourage Asian-bound executives from getting behind the wheel.

Said Debbie de Grendele, manager of Worldwide Travel and Administration at Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Seagate Technology: "Though we have 8,000 room nights a year in Asia, we do not allow individual car rentals in that region. Since we just don't feel it is safe for our people to drive in those areas, we've contracted out for shuttles, and also arrange for company personnel, or our own hired drivers, to accommodate traveling executives."

Seagate's policy evolved after several of its travelers rented cars in Singapore and were involved in traffic accidents. Expatriate employees, however, are exempted from the company rule. But they still need to convince their senior vice presidents that they can handle the driving scene. Otherwise, Seagate expects its people in Singapore to rely on company-or hotel-supplied transportation, taxis or one of the world's finest subway systems. "One of the key hotels we use in Singapore is the Westin Stamford, right above a key subway station," Grendele said. And with the Pan Pacific hotel, which isn't as close to a subway station, Seagate has negotiated twice-daily shuttles between its office and the hotel.

Nevertheless, the variety and quantity of vehicles are plentiful, and easily bookable, particularly via contracts with multinational companies. Leading suppliers in the region include Avis, Budget, Hertz, National and Thrifty.

For transient travel from North America, the solution to the need for ground transportation is hiring a car with driver. Renting a car with a driver costs about one-third more than just the car alone, said Apassorn Chivalak, sales and marketing manager for S.M.T. Renting Company, the Bangkok-based division of S.M.T. Leasing Co., which operates eight National Inter Rent locations in Thailand. For newcomers to his country, or anyone who is not completely familiar with Bangkok, he cautions that it is best to leave city driving to the veterans. Chivalak said North Americans account for a small percentage of his firm's traffic. In fact, 15 percent of his corporate traffic is drawn from local companies, 75 percent from international companies based in Thailand and 10 percent from overseas.

Wary of the Asian car rental scene, Jeff Walker, manager of transportation for Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola, said his Asia-bound travelers rely on transportation supplied by local facilities. He said driving usually is a poor idea because executives "don't know where they are going, usually can't read the street signs and encounter real language barriers if they have a problem." When Motorola employees travel to locations such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Seoul, "it's much better to have local people pick them up. Or they get into a taxi with a card that tells the driver precisely where the passenger is headed."

Bill Maher, Sydney-based managing director for Thrifty Rent-a-car, Asia Pacific, agreed. "Driving yourself is fine when on vacation in places such as Lombak or Bali in Indonesia," he said. "But I defy anyone either than an expatriate to navigate the capital of Jakarta. And there's no reason to do so. The difference in rental cost between car alone and car and driver is very small. One key reason is that the driver is much less likely to have an accident than an executive from North America. And, if you do have a problem, the driver speaks the language."

Getting into a roadside mishap can be expensive as well. In Thailand, liabilities include $80,000 per person or a total $400,000 per accident, unlimited third-party liability for bodily injury or death and $100,000 in property damage. The renter also is responsible for between $800 and $2,400 for damage to the vehicle, depending on its category.

Rolfe Shellenberger, senior consultant at Runzheimer International, strongly urges North American drivers to leave the wheel to others. "In Indonesia where they produce a great deal of oil," he said, "many motorcycle owners tune their motors to run on kerosene. Since you probably can't read Indonesian, you don't want to err and put that stuff into your rental car's gas tank."

Avis is trying a novel approach to win customers in Bangkok by adding a converted Toyota Hiace van to its fleet. The vehicle is equipped with a laptop computer, phone, VCR and fax machine. There is only one van available at present, but two more will be added if the demand is sufficient.

Budget is seriously considering "converting some Bangkok-based vans into mobile workstations, supplying a driver for a vehicle that would include a mobile phone, fax, computer and desk," said regional vice president and general manager Tony Vericella. Because trips within the capital often take two hours or more, he believes this would be a real benefit to time-strapped and traffic-trapped executives.

Most industry officials agreed that Japan, where street numbers are not necessarily in order, is by far the most difficult country to drive in, and rentals with drivers are hard to come by.

"Rentals are localized at small locations, with a large majority of rentals being made by small area businesses who do not have a commercial fleet of their own," said Aaron Medina, director of International Business, Japan, for Hertz. Medina noted that most domestic Japanese car rental companies do not offer chauffeur-driven services. And, he said, there is a very minimal amount of inbound business from overseas markets.

Nevertheless, Joe Russo, Hertz's vice president of government and public affairs, said, "Of all the world's car rental markets whose potential has not been realized, Asia is the place."

Russo said that renting from a known firm with a solid U.S. reputation removes at least one unfamiliar element from the car rental picture. This is particularly important in terms of liability situations.

Russo believes that, as Asian business continues to expand and increased funds are directed toward Asian road systems and related infrastructure, the need for car and driver may decline. After all, he said, "Hertz started in the U.S. in 1918, entered Western Europe in 1950 and Eastern Europe in 1964, and didn't open in Singapore, its first Asian locale, until 1978."

Hertz also now operates in India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. The company recently expanded its Singapore headquarters to include an updated regional reservation center. Asked for likely future Hertz sites, Russo pointed to Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Vericella said Budget covers most of the Pacific islands between Hawaii and Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Singapore. Budget hopes to soon be a presence in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. "We have signed a franchise agreement with interests in China and hope to have a location open before the end of this year," he said.

He said one of Budget's prime assets is its broad vehicle fleet. "Unlike Hertz or Avis, we rent a surprising mix, including trucks with cranes," he said. "This benefits firms that may have a project where a particular specialty vehicle is needed on site, but where it would not be cost- or time-effective to purchase the vehicle."

Using rentals for these services allows companies to avoid the myriad permit processes that differ from country to country, obtain required licenses and simplify financial transactions, he said. And, "if cars or other vehicles we have leased break down, we can quickly replace them," he said.