I'd heard rumours about a shortage of vehicles in the car rental sector, but I must confess to being a little confused by the story. Maybe I'm being stupid but, given the recession, it hardly seems likely that there's going to be an increase in demand for car hire; So where is the shortage coming from? A few months ago the car manufacturing industry had a glut of cars which they couldn't shift. Ok, they've scaled back production since then, but, even so, it just doesn't ring true that a sector like car hire wouldn't be able to get the cars they need, they've got to be a relatively big purchasing block, and given the pain the car manufacturers are feeling at the moment you'd think they'd be more than happy to fill that demand.

Even if the car makers really can't meet the demand for new cars, what about last years cars? It would absolutely asinine for car hire companies to dispose of last years fleet before ensuring that they have the cars to meet this year's demand; Ok, it might not be ideal to have year old cars, but surely that has to be better than having to turn customers away during a recession?

I'll be interested to see how this story pans out, but, cynic that I am, I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a ploy to try and encourage consumers to book up early, for fear that they won't be able to get a hire car for their summer holidays. We'll see I guess.