Posted on July 24, 2009 by Fiona Hilliard

Those looking forward to an authentic US road trip in an all-American Ford or Chevrolet might just have to make do with a Nissan this year.

For the first time in history, car rental companies in the US are purchasing more foreign cars than those manufactured in their own country.  This year, just 49 per cent of cars on the rental market were sourced from the top US car makers Chrysler, General Motors and Ford.  These are astonishing figures when you consider that in 2008, two thirds of the cars came from the US market and three years ago, the same companies were providing vehicles for up to 80 per cent of fleets that are now mostly filled with cars from the Middle East.

This news comes as fleets in every continent cut the number of cars on offer in light of demand.  Companies are also being more selective about the type of cars they offer to their customers, rather than just offering the cheapest cars on the market.

Commenting on the new fleets, Neil Abrams, a rental car consultant said:

“It’s amazing how things turn around.  It used to be the case that you’d never see foreign cars in fleets, but the companies re-examined their businesses and have decided to embrace non-US brands”.