China’s car rental market hit RMB 104.4bn (+24% YoY) in 2025, powered by 193M licensed non-owners and booming tourism.
Yet beneath the headline, a dual-track battle defines the industry: heavy-asset verticals (Shenzhou ～20.9%, eHi ～18.5%) vs. light-asset aggregators (Ctrip ～15.9%, Didi, Douyin). The former owns service consistency and peak supply; the latter wins on traffic and bundling—but triggers price wars and trust erosion (opaque fees, deposit disputes).
Winners must crack three levers:
Fleet economics – utilization × NEV residual management (still volatile);
Trust-as-moat – transparent all-in pricing, credit-based deposit-free, digital damage evidence;
Network density – airport/HSR hubs + free one-way + self-service kiosks to capture tier-3/4 and western growth.
Without these, margin will bleed into commoditization.
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