Chauffeur-driven cars at your service

The concept of renting a chauffeur-driven vehicle, known under the historic title of "la grande remise", dates back to the time of Louis XIV when the nobility were transported by horse-drawn carriage with a coachman.

There are a number of companies which still offer this type of service, although today the horse-drawn carriages are replaced by comfortable, upmarket motor vehicles with four wheels.

There are four such companies in Lyon: Affaires et Tourisme, Chabé Verjat, Great Chauffeur and Lyon Prestige. Great Chauffeur, which started up in April 2002, operated until recently out of the Crédit Lyonnais tower in the Part-Dieu district. "But we decided to change our strategy, preferring to have an office at street level," explains Laurent Pinon, owner of the company which he founded with partner Sylvain Iste. "Up to now most of our bookings came from the internet or by telephone, with business from both French and foreign companies. Now that we have a shop window directly onto the street we're hopeful that we'll become better known amongst the local Lyon clientèle because our business is by definition very specialist and is still unfamiliar.".

It is not everyone who can open up a chauffeured car company... first of all there is an obligatory qualification to obtain plus a licence from the Prefecture. "We also have a special tourist authorisation from the Prefecture," continues Laurent Pinon, "which allows us to offer a complete tourism service. We can book hotel rooms, restaurants, museum tours and tickets for shows or concerts for our clients".

60% of the latter are foreign clients, mainly Americans, Japanese and Russians and their presence in Lyon or the region is usually linked with a conference or trade show, such as Lyon Mode City, Pollutec or SIRHA, a meeting or a business visit to a local company. "Meeting and conferences represent about 30% of our business", confirms Laurent Pinon. "It mostly involves transfers between stations and airports and various hotels, Eurexpo or the Cité Internationale. We operate on average about 100 contracts per month and offer three options. The first type of package includes a guided tour; for example for a car to be available from 10 am to 6 pm and including a discovery tour of Lyon the cost for a day would be 410 € (ex tax). An airport transfer to the Sofitel Bellecour or the Hilton works out at 110 € (ex tax) and the hourly rate is 50 € (ex tax) for Greater Lyon".

As a licensed chauffeured car company, Great Chauffeur is able to operate outside of its home territory, largely in Burgundy and Provence but also in Cannes where two of the company's chauffeur-driven vehicles were available for a parallel event to the Cannes Film Festival. Laurent Pinon is convinced that his services are going to become very popular, especially in Lyon "with its double season, both summer and winter due to the proximity of ski resorts"..