The Asian automobile manufacturing market is much broader than many American consumers understand it to be. Beyond Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and other household names there are quite a few automakers that are growing in size and respectability in their own markets. Two of these companies have already committed to selling their models in the U.S., but there are three others worth knowing about and watching.

Proton — Proton Holdings, the parent corporation of Proton Motors, is the largest manufacturer of vehicles in Malaysia. Volkswagen and Proton signed a strategic partnership agreement in October 2004 whereby Volkswagen cars would be built on Proton assembly lines beginning in 2006. Apart from the VW venture, Proton has a line of models of its own consisting primarily of subcompact and compact sized vehicles. Proton cars are currently exported to Australia and the company is eyeing the U.S. market perhaps as early as 2010. In addition to its VW relationship, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi owns nearly a 16% share in Proton.

Hindustan — Since 1950, Hindustan Motors has been building cars for the Indian market. Their current line up of automobiles, looking as if they were built in the 1950s, do not match up to current world styling standards. However, the emerging Indian economy has been providing remarkable growth across all business sectors and the Indian automobile industry is ripe for renewal. The Ambassador Grand, one such model, has recently been updated to meet current European emissions standards. Look for a Hindustan model to be exported to Europe first before taking on the highly competitive U.S. market.

Tata — Unlike Hindustan Motors, India’s Tata Motors is currently producing cars that look as if they were designed recently. As the only Indian car company featuring cars built and designed by Indians, the company’s Indica V2 and Indigo compacts have received a favorable reception at the Geneva Auto Show. Plans to export directly to the U.S. have been considered but Tata cars may get to the U.S. under another label before then, such as Ford or Dodge.

There are many car rental companies to choose from, it will help to shop around and do your research to find the best companies to rent the vehicle. Most of these companies have a website for rental information, such as the requirements, types of cars, their office locations, and specials for renting their cars.

You may like to take advantages of the rental specials that the rental companies will offer to save money. It will be helpful to avoid rental hassles to read the details about the agreement or contract information. Check out the rates for renting the car for you like, most rental companies will prefer credit cards as payment. Find out the nearest office locations for picking up the cars, many rental companies have a location at the airport for your convenience to pickup the car. There are options to pickup the car yourself or the company will deliver the car to you at a fee, be sure to visually inspect the car before taking it. You should check whether the rental company will fill the gasoline for you or you will be responsible for it.

They will also ask if you would like to use your own insurance or purchase their insurance coverage. If you decide to use yours, find out if your own insurance company will cover the car rental insurance during the rental duration. Decide ahead of the rentals that if any other people will be driving the vehicle too, because the rental company will need to include the other people in the rental contract.

There are so many types or models of cars to choose from, you should find out which one will be the best for your purpose. Choices like small cars, medium cars, large cars, SUV, fuel efficient green cars, vans with higher capacity, convertible, cargo vans, and moving trucks. If you would like to save on gas, it will be wise to rent a small or fuel efficient green car. But if you are going to take a prospect or client of yours to dinner during the rental, it will be more proper to rent a larger or a luxurious model. It will be right to rent a cargo van or moving truck, if you are moving to a new house or moving the cargos of your company. Therefore, appropriate car rental research and planning will always help you with a smoother car rental experience.