Everyone likes to ride in an executive car, even if their personal economic status won't allow them to remain in that comfort zone for long. Perhaps it is for this reason that special occasions like weddings or anniversaries routinely call for the services of limousines.

It isn't that people are looking specifically for an executive car, but it is about image and perception. Traditions are like that; they go back to an earlier time and try to reproduce an event or recapture a feeling - call it nostalgia if you like. We go so far as to take a ride through the park in a horse and carriage while on holiday. Not exactly executive cars, even vintage Rolls Royce and Bentley models are made available and are quite popular for special occasions.

My first official job was in a valet car park service. These were not just executives that were arriving for social or business gatherings. There were princes and lords and even a few billionaires, all arriving in vehicles they were driving themselves. I remember asking about a certain Mercedes model, only to find that it was a rental, hired for the evening. The projecting of an image on one side and the drawing of unsubstantiated conclusions on the other - somehow these come together in perception. I've never forgotten that this phenomenon occurs. I suggest that it plays a big part in the continuing success of businesses offering executive cars for hire.

Comfort is one thing and executive cars have that commodity built in. A classic wedding party might put bride and groom in a stretch limousine, but mom and pop are still quite comfortable in a well-endowed executive car, with or without a chauffeur. Debutante balls and coming out parties prompt limousine hire - an essential element in the night's programme is the announcing the arrival of a personality, even if it's only for a few moments in the spotlight.

Travel and business are also wedded together and by necessity airport services abound. Ground transportation to and from hotels, conference centers and the like are standard in the rental car industry. The executive rental car is marketed as an enhanced product, whose package of features and benefits equates to service. The measurement of success in this corporate driven business is staying power and that comes from repeat business. Companies come and go and are merged and gobbled up in the process, but service delivery has to be the priority or the business goes elsewhere.