Glossary
Revenue per unit
Revenue per unit is revenue divided by the cars in your fleet over a period. It combines rate and utilisation into one number. Formula and example.
Revenue per unit, or RPU, is the revenue each car in your fleet earned over a period, whether it was on hire or not. It's the car hire version of a hotel's revenue per available room.
Formula
RPU (per month) = rental revenue ÷ average cars in fleet
Or, which gives the same answer:
RPU per day = revenue per day × fleet utilisation
Worked example
Hypothetical. Two months for the same 40-car fleet:
| October | November | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue per day on hire | NZ$125 | NZ$110 |
| Fleet utilisation | 60% | 75% |
| RPU per car per day | NZ$75 | NZ$82.50 |
| RPU per car for the month (30 days) | NZ$2,250 | NZ$2,475 |
November's daily rate was 12% lower, but each car earned 10% more. The lower rate filled more days.
Why it matters for a rental operator
RPU is the number that pays the lease. Each car costs you about the same whether it's out or parked, so revenue per car is closer to profit than either rate or utilisation alone.
It also settles the usual argument between the person who wants full cars and the person who wants high rates. Whichever lifts RPU wins.
See it in Rate Pulse
Rate Pulse doesn't see your bookings, so it can't show your RPU. It shows the market rates you'd trade against to lift it. Building RPU reporting from your booking system is part of our revenue management work.
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