It has long been accepted wisdom that while travel managers have moved to control spending in the major areas of air and hotels, less attention was paid to the smaller budgets for car hire and ground transport.
In some companies, car hire fell outside the remit of the travel manager and rested with a fleet manager.
It was equally true that car hire companies were less equipped, less ready to make the best of the corporate market.
This has been changing over the years as both corporates realised there was money to be saved and hire companies saw there were deals to be done and money to be made.
The car hire industry, in regards to the corporate market, has changed enormously over the past few years. This is thanks not only to the pushing and prodding of its corporate customers but also through a willingness on its own behalf to change in response to its clients' wishes.
There are some prime examples of this. National Car Rental has just launched a global corporate self booking tool, Drive National.
The tool, one of the first of its kind for car rental in Europe, aims both to keep control on company costs and ensure employee compliance to travel policy.
It has been designed to meet the needs of travellers who operate across a number of different countries and regions and give them the facility to book, amend, replicate or cancel reservations at any time and any place.
Ron Santiago, National's vp international sales and marketing, said: "Drive National provides corporate customers and their travellers with a self booking tool that operates across any number of countries.
"And key to its effectiveness is the facility it provides for businesses to control their vehicle rental activity across all their international operations, as well as giving the business traveller the ability to book the vehicles they need, at any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world.”
Avis Europe has also taken positive steps to woo the corporate market. Simon Palethorpe, group commercial director EMEA, said the corporate market is now more than 20% of Avis Europe's business.
The driving force of changes introduced in the last months for this key market was to keep things simple. "When we talk to our corporate customers, they will typically ask 'Keep it simple, make it easy to understand and deal with any problems preferably before they reach the travel manager's desk,'" he said.
Avis offers three ways to book: through a call centre, through a microsite/extranet or through a more bespoke technology which integrates with the customer's.
"We give our customers the booking tool of choice so that it does not become a barrier to doing business," Mr Palethorpe said.
Avis is now also providing corporates with profiles of their journeys to let them see whether it is more economic for them to use a car, a cab, a plane or a train. "We show them the profiles of their journeys and they can see their people are making the right choices. We can price their journeys in terms of time and money.
"We might have to say 'You have a number of people who are making journeys which are uneconomical' or that a journey should be by plane or train.
"We are trying to actively engage with the travel manager to help them reduce their overall costs.
"We are getting a lot of positive feedback on this. It might mean fewer rentals but it engenders customer loyalty."
Avis has also introduced over the last eight months, a "new, easy to understand rental agreement," Mr Palethorpe said.
"If you look at most agreements in the industry, it is extremely difficult to see how much you are going to pay," he said.
This is a single form with all the charges laid out, a vehicle report included and requiring just one signature.
It can be printed in any major European language so a Briton renting in Spain can get it in English. "Again the feedback has been terrific because now finally you can link the amount you thought you would pay when you booked to the amount you actually pay when you return the car," he said.
Finally a new rapid return system has been introduced which Mr Palethorpe says allows the driver to drop the car in less than 60 seconds. But he said the real attraction of this new service
is that when the car is checked and signed off, Avis will not charge the renter any extra money if it later finds any damage.
"We are trying to give them clarity and transparency. Once they have signed off, even if we find something wrong afterwards, we will not go back to the customer," Mr Palethorpe said.
"These changes are driver oriented and they have dramatically reduced driver queries and post-rental complaints."