Car rental prices have come down from the post-pandemic peak when companies couldn't quickly replace the fleets they sold off during the travel slowdown, but remain fairly high due to trends in the market for new and used vehicles -- which interviews with Sharky Laguana, president of the American Car Rental Association, and Chris Brown, an associate publisher of Auto Rental News, reveal as the core moneymaker for a car rental business. Cars are now available, but the interest rates associated with buying them are higher, Brown says, and car manufacturers are making more high-end cars and SUVs that are desirable to renters and resell at a good price but cost more

Full story (auidio): Why renting a car is more expensive : The Indicator from Planet Money : NPR