I'll tell you both sides. First, it's there because it's true.
On the other hand, to be fair, what happened is that the rental car companies kinda shot themselves in the foot and caused the situation. When the lockdown/shutdown occurred last year the companies sold off a huge amount of their vehicles all at once just to stay afloat (Hertz is the best example).
It kinda (I wish we could use italics here) made sense - it costs money to keep and maintain vehicles that nobody's renting. Fast forward to this year, they can't buy cars fast enough because the travelling public got the green light to travel back in May. Everyone wanted to travel at once, either for business or pleasure. There is a shortage of new cars because the whole supply chain, especially chips, is all jacked up. As I said, the rental car companies can't buy new cars fast enough to meet demand. Demand may slow down as the delta variant panic takes hold and people stop travelling, who knows, but right now that's what it's based on high demand and low supply, so they can charge what they want. I've even heard stories of travelers bypassing the car rental places and renting a truck or van from UHaul instead. Funny times.
