Companies that provide car rental services nationwide have been scrambling to launch more franchises in Tianjin to get a piece of the booming business that saw a year-on-year growth of nearly 40 percent last year, local website enorth.com reported.

China Auto Rental, a leading car rental services provider in China, said it receives more than 20 orders a day. The company has six franchises in Tianjin. A manual transmission car costs about 200 yuan ($33) per day.

eHi Car Service, another company, said it improved its services by allowing customers to return cars at places such as coach terminals, car repair and washing shops. The company said its business is expected to reach the peak before March.

Although Tianjin currently has more than 160 car rental companies, only eight of them own more than 100 cars.

The Tianjin Automobile Dealers Association said small-scale and companies providing services with less quality are likely to be marginalized due to the fierce competition.