Why are rental cars so expensive?

Because there was a worldwide pandemic.

Rental agencies sold their fleets and are just now restocking.

Rates have been very high everywhere (In US too) for the past year and a half.

How long is your rental for?
Average does seem to be over $100 day
Can you get away with a car for ONLY the places you need then train to Genoa?

It isn't just in Europe, either. Our rental car price for 3 days in Denver last fall cost as much as the total for our RT flights Mpls> DIA/DIA>Mpls for the 2 of us. Like Christine said, rental agencies sold their fleets and are just now restocking, plus there's high demand. Add the current $$$ of gas on top of THAT. Ouch.

I'd opt for the trains unless there's some reason you really NEED a car.

Demand is sky high right now and supply is low and the result is high prices. I had to rent a car today until Sunday and it cost over $300 for a minivan. SUVs are sometimes the highest price point for a rental. I wanted a SUV for my rental this weekend but I took a minivan to get the lower price.

Rental prices here in the US jumped around Memorial Day weekend and are really high right now. I know because I rented an SUV in mid May, and wanted to rent another one for next week, and the rate nearly doubled.

I watch the French channel TV5Monde, and just the other day I saw a news story on how high and how much car rental prices have jumped in France in recent weeks. So it is happening here and abroad...

Finally, one way rentals in the US used to be pretty reasonable, but these days it is really expensive, with the daily rate averaging in the $300 to $400 range per day. At one time, there was a simple drop off fee tacked on to regular rates, but now they jack up the daily rates, so the longer you keep a one way, the cost is much higher.

The pandemic forced companies to sell their fleets. Supply chain issues and shortage of microchips makes restocking expensive too (even buying cars is expensive now). Maybe all of the above also provides some excuse for gouging consumers as well.

My suggestion is: rent a car only if and only when and where you really need it. Scale down the type of car you need. SUVs were outrageously expensive even before. If you need a large car for several people it is cheaper to rent two economy or compact cars rather than one SUV or van, and by a large margin. And why do you need an SUV? In October you won’t find snowy roads between Florence and Genoa.

Nobody "needs" an SUV unless you're planning on off-roading. Remember, carmakers pushed SUVs to get around fuel economy standards and boost profit margins. Then they took away more reasonable choices. Station wagons usually have more space and get better mileage, and are less prone to rollovers. See if you can get one instead of an SUV.

Well, thanks to everyone for explaining. There are four of us and we do want to be in the same car. However, I will look into the station wagon option. I was thinking SUV just for the size and luggage capacity. Mostly because that was what we had the last time! I will also rethink the Florence to Genoa leg. Maybe train over instead. Thanks again.

I agree about trying to rent a station wagon. I rented one for the week I'll spend in Tuscany in July. I'm paying about $1,000 for the week. I booked thru AutoEurope as well. We've always rented station wagons in Europe; they are always cheaper than SUVs and comfortable for a family of 4.

We are visiting Italy in Sept-Oct. We will do all travel by train or bus. If you believe that a car is necessary, you will pay huge amounts of money.

Traveling by train/bus is fine as long as you're staying in cities. In fact, cars are a burden if you're doing the usual tourist route of Rome/Florence/Venice and any variant. Italy is more than cities, though. It's hard to take public transport to stay in an agriturismo, or to see places like the Piano Grande di Castelluccio up in the Apennines. I'm in rural Umbria now and it would be impossible to get around without a car.

There are four of us and we do want to be in the same car. However, I
will look into the station wagon option. I was thinking SUV just for
the size and luggage capacity. Mostly because that was what we had the
last time! I will also rethink the Florence to Genoa leg. Maybe train
over instead.

Stations wagons are usually the better choice if you need luggage capacity. They offer a lot more boot space normally. And yes, for Florence to Genoa the train is a better option if you just want to go from city to city.

Consider the gas prices now. We just got back from France and gas was the equivalent of about $8/gallon.

People I know just cancelled a trip to Ireland, as a car was going to cost CAN$3,000. for under two weeks.
More than their combined flights.

No offense meant, but the time to book a car was months ago. I am going to Italy in September and started looking at rental cars back in February. They were already well over $100 a day, and that was for economy class. They've only increased in price since then.

Consider the gas prices now. We just got back from France and gas was the equivalent of about $8/gallon.

Some places in Calif. that would be a 'bargain'.

To address the title question "supply & demand" in the free market economy.
( https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/law-of-supply-demand.asp )