Car hire at Heathrow Airport to grow in popularity?

Heathrow Airport car hire may be more popular than ever next year, as new research has shown a growing number of motorists are looking to car rental to save money.

A survey by Europcar – which opened Europe’s largest car rental site at Heathrow in 2008 – found that approximately 73 per cent of drivers are planning to hire a vehicle for holidays or long journeys in 2010, a five percentage point increase on the proportion who have done so this year.

And the same proportion indicated that they would seriously contemplate car rental in order to lessen the wear and tear on their vehicles and as such minimise repair costs.

Europcar’s marketing director Catriona Lougher said the results of the study show that drivers are "getting more savvy" when it comes to road use.

"While most Brits won’t be parted from their car, for longer journeys motorists are switching on to the benefits of vehicle hire," she remarked.

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