Recent Press & Media Coverage

The company’s executive director April Koh attributed the demand to various factors. For example, many potential car buyers have put their plans on hold amid the current high certificate of entitlement (COE) and loan interest rates.

Thus, she said, “many turn to car rentals as an interim transport remedy in the hope that COEs trend downwards in the coming months”.

Car rental firm Ace Drive said they are fully booked for this Chinese New Year. 35 percent of its 240-strong fleet is booked from Jan 18 to 27, with 33 percent of the bookings being for its seven-day rental package and 2% of the bookings being for the five-day package. 65% of the bookings were from rentals or leases that are beyond 7 days. 

The company’s executive director April Koh attributed the demand to various factors. For example, many potential car buyers have put their plans on hold amid the current high certificate of entitlement (COE) and loan interest rates.

Ace Drive said more customers are coming in to rent after scrapping their vehicles once their COEs expire because they cannot afford to get a replacement. 

“We have been noticing a spike in rental demand for a few months now, mainly because of the uptrend in COE prices,” said Ace Drive executive director April Koh. 

“Most of our customers are telling us that they are putting a halt on their purchasing plan to see if they can rent or lease a car during this interim period. And possibly buy a car when the COE prices plunge.”

According to April Koh, General Manager of car rental company, Ace Drive, many people wanted to avoid public transportation as much as they can. Hence, the demand for car rental in general, except for the wedding car rental segment, has not been largely affected.

“Some customers have also been asking recently how we clean and disinfect our vehicles. We used to prepare a vehicle for about 15 to 30 minutes. Now, with our enhanced cleaning procedure, it takes us about 45 minutes to an hour to carry out the cleaning and disinfection work,” said April Koh.

Ms. April Koh, 31, the general manager of car leasing firm Ace Drive, said rentals for its luxury car fleet have also seen a boost since the pandemic began.

“Because people cannot travel out of Singapore for holidays and whatnot, customers have come in because they want a joyride, want a luxury car experience, or want to rent a car for birthday occasions and celebratory occasions,” said Ms Koh.

Some have come in to rent a luxury car while waiting for their own new ride to arrive in Singapore, she said.

The firm has seen a 75 percent jump in new customers, of which 20 percent were customers looking to rent luxury cars.

Most car rental businesses target only the mass market such that the niche market for luxury/exotic sports cars is slightly neglected. Hence, Ace Drive has become one of Singapore’s premier car rental and leasing providers that offers the widest range of luxury, sports, and exotic cars. This became one of their unique selling points that differentiates them from most other car rental companies. 

At least one car rental company offering luxury car rental is seeing a near-sweep of vehicles such as Porsches, Volvos, and Audi sports cars for the upcoming Chinese New Year period.

The vehicles, which can cost more than $4,000 for seven days’ rental, are rented as “good omens”, Lianhe Wanbao reported on Tuesday (Jan 3).

Managing Director of luxury car rental company Ace Drive, Mr. Jesse Tan, told Wanbao that some 100 cars it has for rental have nearly all been booked this year, even before the company put up advertisements for the Chinese New Year period.

The Porsche Boxster 2.7 Tiptronic Convertible from Ace Drive is the perfect ride for couples who want to flaunt their sporty side while maintaining a hint of glitz and glamour. The sleek two-seater car boasts luxurious leather interiors and a convertible top that you can summon up in bad weather or leave down for that wind-in-the-hair look.