Unleashing Freedom On Wheels: Savaari Empowers Travelers With Unmatched Convenience and Flexibility

The car rental market in India has experienced significant growth and transformation in recent years. With the rise of urbanization, increasing disposable incomes, and a shift towards a sharing economy, car rentals have become a popular choice for both domestic and international travelers, as well as for local commuting needs. The market has long been saturated with numerous providers offering varying services and pricing structures. However, amidst this clutter, Savaari has emerged as a standout player, disrupting the industry with its seamless and affordable service offerings.

Enclosed below are excerpts of an interview with Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder and CEO at Savaari Car Rentals:

In the post-pandemic times where companies across sectors were just managing to stay afloat, what were the key factors that helped Savaari stay profitable?
The pandemic was an unprecedented event that spared no industry, but the travel and hospitality industry was arguably, the most severely affected. The financial year 2023, which can be called the first full post-pandemic year, saw travel recovering the slowest, with company top- and bottom-lines being firmly in the red. Savaari however, was not only able to grow at an industry leading pace of 40% compared to the pre-pandemic year (FY-20), but was able to do so while posting a profit in FY-23. Some of the integral factors that helped us do so are:

a) Altering the business model and expanding into the One-way drops category- Traditionally a company focusing on mobility for leisure travel, Savaari’s primary revenue contributor was round trip cabs. However, with the emergence of essential/emergency travel during the pandemic that overwhelmingly required passengers to be transported on one-way routes, our swift pivot to expanding to over 5 lakh routes across India helped address this customer need

b) Accelerated Automation – The low demand periods during the pandemic gave us an opportunity to accelerate our technology automation efforts across our value chain. This automation helped us unlock scale, as well as rationalize cost structures – proved true when we expanded from 98 to 2000 cities within 15 months

c) Strong unit economics – Being a purely value-driven company that promises the allocation of the right cab and driver to the right customer, Savaari’s unit economics stood firm even during times of low demand. Our non-negotiable value of being earnings positive on every transaction was instrumental in riding the storm

Having been in the industry for such a long time, what has been your mantra to still be relevant in such a cluttered market?
Our value-driven approach has seen a very strong resonance among our customer base that has fortunately resulted in very attractive customer acquisition costs. The pillars on which Savaari works extremely hard on delivering value are:

a) Chauffeurs who are courteous, well trained and are road trip companions

b) Cabs that are well maintained, and accessorized with road trip essentials

c) Mature hybrid of automated and people-led operations to ensure that a superior quality of service for both customers and driver partners

Please elaborate on your business model and some areas that you focus on to maximize your repeat customer base? 
Savaari does not want to be called as just another car rental company. We want to be a company that champions Indian road travel. Our business model is centered around building a brand that offers a superior road travel experience by connecting the customers with the right car and driver configuration. While the hygiene of the car and driver are non-negotiable, Savaari delights its customers by delivering highly relevant, timely and expert-led travel content before and during the trip. This well-rounded travel experience is the secret to our high repeat rates among our customers- we clock over 45% of repeat customers every month.

Recently, a couple of self-driven car rental startups have been launched in India. Do you consider these as your competition?
Self-driven car rental startups, while targeting a similar customer demographic, offer a completely different value proposition to customers. Savaari bases its claim of ‘India is best explored by road’ is from the vantage point of the backseat of a car. This necessitates a chauffeur who can take the hassle of driving away from customers, thus letting them experience the journey comfortably and undistracted. Furthermore, chauffeurs are also extremely familiar with local travel secrets, which makes them valuable travel companions.

For car rental service providing companies like yours, who forms the major cluster of customers, metropolitan cities or smaller towns? Please explain with some data and insights.
Metro cities (+ Bangalore) have traditionally been the biggest revenue contributors for Savaari in the last decade. However, the share of tier-2 and tier-3 cities have been significantly growing in the last 3-4 years. Metros contributed to about 80% of the business in FY-20, whereas today, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities like Coimbatore, Jaipur, Varanasi, Guwahati, and Indore contribute to around 35% of our business.

Savaari's commitment to affordability sets it apart from the competition. By offering competitive prices and flexible rental options, Savaari caters to a diverse range of customers, making car rentals accessible to all.