St Michael Car Rental Company Limited, a pacesetter in the car rental business of Kumasi, is lacing its boots to organise auto shows in Kumasi.
The shows will be annual events in collaboration with car dealers like Stallion Motors, CFAO, Toyota Ghana, Mac Ghana and FIAT Africa to display their cars for potential customers to test drive and make a purchase decision.
To realise this goal, St Michael will work closely with its partner car dealers, the Car Rental Association of Ghana to make sure the project becomes a sustainable annual event.
Management of St Michael Car Rental has lauded government’s initiative to make Ghana an assembling hub for most of the car manufacturers. This, according to the CEO of St Michael – Mr. Michael Sarpong, will enable the car rental industry in Ghana have to easy access to brand new vehicles and parts at a reduced cost and automatically improve safety on our roads.
Mr. Sarpong made this known when he inaugurated a new office at the Kumasi airport recently. The inauguration ceremony, which coincided with the fifteenth anniversary celebration of the Car Rental Company, breaks the ground for innovative strategies toward business growth and expansion going into the future.
Addressing participants and industry compatriots at the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Sarpong recounted the challenges he had to overcome over the years when he began the car-renting business in 2005. He mentioned the capital intensive nature of the business and the acquisition of brand-new vehicles to offer superior quality services for their cherished clients.
He also mentioned the huge insurance and maintenance costs which sometimes cut through the monthly generated revenue, apart from workers’ salaries; but because safety and comfort have always been the topmost priority of their service, they did all they could to provide safe, comfortable and excellent services to customers.
Mr. Sarpong confided that he never enjoyed any monopoly in the business; he was faced with healthy competition when he joined the car rental business in Kumasi, and that gave him and his team the urge to always be conscious of providing unique quality services – which has brought the company to its present state.
St Michael Car Rental has been recognised by the relevant regulatory body, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for its distinctive services rendered over the years. St Michael Car Rentals has about eight awards to its credit – notable among them the National Best Car Rental Service of the Year Award in 2017 by GTA – and was among the top-10 Travel Agents by African World Airlines.
The company currently operates two very active offices at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra and Kumasi Airport in Kumasi. The company has other subsidiaries in the areas of travel and tours, airline ticketing, courier services, vehicle maintenance and repairs, car-wash and car spraying.
Mr. Sarpong, in concluding his inaugural address, expressed so much gratitude to his dedicated staff for the hard work and perseverance they have exhibited for the past fifteen years to achieve the success story they are all celebrating today. Currently, St Michael operates with 25 brand-new four-wheel vehicles, 10 saloon cars and 6 mini-buses.
In an address, the Kwamohene – Nana Owusu Nyanin who represented Otumfuo Osei Tutu II – commended management and staff for their hard work and dedicated service in the car-rental and tourism space for the past fifteen years, for which success is being celebrated today.
He further applauded the staff – especially their well-trained drivers – for their dedication to duty and service to customers, which is an example all entrepreneurs need to emulate: an example that he has always advocated for private enterprise development as it is the tool that builds nations.
Otumfuo’s representative reiterated that making the car-rental business attractive involves a multidisciplinary approach wherein stakeholders including government and other agencies come together.
He mentioned how expensive it is to own a single vehicle let alone a fleet; the cost of insurance, maintenance, security and other operational costs make the industry capital intensive. “Your industry has been greatly affected during this pandemic, as the airports are shut to international travellers. Across the globe, major airlines and car-rental companies are folding-up,” he added.
Otumfuo believes that the airport cannot function all alone, and so other service providers and establishments make it complete. An international standard airport requires car-rental service providers as seen in major cities all over the world. He therefore believes that when work on the new airport is completed, St Michael will be in a position to meet the transport needs for the majority of travellers and other airport users.
