50 | South Africa ZEDA has over 230 000 fleet under management, with over 35 000 on its balance sheet. The balance sheet fleet are split almost 55% short term rental and 45% long term leasing. The company has built strong capability to sell used cars through its 14 dealerships across South Africa and auction platform both in and outside South Africa. Overview of the business segments under ZEDA: Car rental business - ZEDA’s business segment that trades under the brand names ‘Avis’ and ‘Budget’. The customer segment base is diversified and consists of private sector, public sector, insurance business (replacement), inbound market, domestic leisure market and subscription. This business provides a range of products and services to a wide range of customers which include car rental, chauffer services, luxury and van rental. It has 76 corporate branches in South Africa and a presence in seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Leasing business – ZEDA’s business segment that trades as ‘Avis Fleet’ and provides a fully outsourced mobility. The full spectrum of outsourced mobility solutions offered by Avis Fleet includes leasing, fleet management, maintenance and service plan solutions, fuel management, traffic fine management, accident management and vehicle telematics, amongst others. The offering ranges from passenger, light delivery and commercial vehicles up to extra heavy vehicles, for all categories of fleet users. These vehicles are contracted to the customer for a period exceeding 12 months, with an average of 44 months. Customer segments include corporate, small businesses and government entities. This holistic and modular offering allows customers to focus on their core operations, while Avis Fleet takes care of their mobility needs and ensures maximum uptime for their operations. Car sales business – ZEDA’s business segment that sells cars that have reached their full life cycle from the rental side (12 months) and leasing side (average of four years and older). These vehicles are sold to retail customers and independent wholesalers. This is done through the 14 Avis Car Sales dealerships, wholesale outlets, the online channel or through our independent auction site (www.avisauction.co.za). Retail vehicles are advertised on the company’s online sales portal and other third-party websites. Wholesale stock is sold through the online auction trading platform or through bulk deal offerings direct to the market. Avis Car Sales accepts trade-ins and buy-ins, allowing for market competitiveness and an alternative car stock source. How have you seen your career develop since 2022? Since joining Avis Budget Southern Africa, my career has developed tremendously. I was appointed to the position of CEO on 1 January 2020, to start on 1 May. At the time, COVID-19 was not even a discussion point. In February, we started hearing about COVID-19 cases being reported in parts of Europe after it was first detected in China. Immediately after my appointment, I started crafting my 100 days plan. However, this plan was not to be realised due to the impact of the pandemic on the car rental businesses. At that time Avis had just under 28 000 fleet and not generating income. Every cost element you could think of, including parking facilities, security to look after the cars increased. As a result, my commence-ment date was moved forward, and I subsequently started my new role on 1 April, just five days after South Africa’s first national lockdown. I had to come up with a turnaround strategy within five days. This was a challenge I took head-on by staying focused and coming up with a plan that would ensure that we would come out of the woods and not just survive but thrive. This is how the subscription offering came about, which the market received very well, despite the restrictions that were imposed on movement. We saw about 5000 vehicles back on the road in July and a year later, in 2021, we managed to bring back staff that were laid off during the peak of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, our business was predominantly airport and tourism based. Now, over 50% of our business is contractual and diversified away from tourism or airports. This period tested my character and resilience, and I am grateful for the team that I work with because they really stepped up and made some hard sacrifices to save our business. What is your vision for the future of ZEDA? ZEDA’s vision is to become a trusted mobility solutions provider that is leading in the chosen markets. Its aspiration is to deepen stronger penetration of a usership economy, especially amongst the youth. Many
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