Automotive Fleet Leasing Market – Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, Segmented By Lease Type (Open Ended, And Close Ended), By Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles), By End User (B2B, B2C), By Region, Competition 2021-2031F

Forecast Period	2027-2031
Market Size (2025)	USD 27.80 Billion
CAGR (2026-2031)	7.31%
Fastest Growing Segment	Open Ended
Largest Market	North America
Market Size (2031)	USD 42.45 Billion

Market Overview

The Global Automotive Fleet Leasing Market will grow from USD 27.80 Billion in 2025 to USD 42.45 Billion by 2031 at a 7.31% CAGR. Automotive fleet leasing constitutes a financial arrangement enabling organizations to utilize vehicles for a fixed duration in exchange for regular payments without assuming ownership risks. The primary drivers sustaining market growth include the strategic corporate preference for preserving working capital by converting upfront acquisition costs into predictable operating expenditures. Furthermore, the operational efficiency gained through outsourcing vehicle maintenance and administrative compliance incentivizes businesses to adopt leasing models. These factors allow companies to maintain fiscal agility and allocate resources toward core business activities while ensuring access to modern transportation assets.

One significant challenge impeding market expansion is the volatility of residual values which complicates pricing strategies and increases financial risk for lessors. Unpredictable asset depreciation forces leasing companies to raise premiums or enforce stricter underwriting criteria which can deter cost sensitive commercial clients. According to Leaseurope, in 2024, total new European leasing volumes approached 454 billion Euros which represented a 3.1 percent increase from the previous year. This figure highlights that the sector maintains an upward trajectory despite facing valuation pressures and broader economic headwinds.

Key Market Drivers

Accelerating corporate adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) compliance represents a fundamental structural shift in the leasing sector. Organizations are increasingly prioritizing sustainability mandates, compelling lessors to restructure portfolios towards zero-emission assets and create new service revenue streams around charging infrastructure. This transition drives fleet managers to capitalize on lower operational costs despite the challenges of higher initial capital outlays and uncertain residual values. Consequently, leasing providers are evolving into mobility partners that guide clients through the complexities of electrification strategies. According to the Arval Mobility Observatory, March 2024, in the 'Fleet and Mobility Barometer 2024', 36 percent of companies have already implemented or are considering implementing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) within the next three years. This trend forces firms to adapt their underwriting criteria to accommodate the unique lifecycle characteristics of electric drivetrains.

The integration of advanced telematics and real-time fleet analytics acts as a critical enabler for operational efficiency and cost control. Modern fleet operators demand granular visibility into vehicle performance and driver behavior to minimize downtime and optimize the total cost of ownership. Leasing companies are responding by embedding connectivity solutions directly into agreements, thereby transforming static vehicle financing into dynamic, data-driven management services. According to Verizon Connect, November 2024, in the '2025 Fleet Technology Trends Report', 78 percent of fleets are utilizing GPS tracking technology, representing a 5 percent increase from the previous year. This technological saturation allows lessors to offer flexible, usage-based billing models and proactive maintenance packages. According to Ayvens, in 2024, the company reported a total fleet of 3.33 million vehicles by the end of September, illustrating the immense scale of digitally managed assets currently operating globally.

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Key Market Challenges

The volatility of residual values poses a formidable barrier to the expansion of the global automotive fleet leasing market. This unpredictability regarding the future worth of a vehicle at the end of a lease fundamentally disrupts the financial modeling that leasing companies rely upon. When asset depreciation becomes erratic, lessors face heightened financial exposure, compelling them to implement defensive pricing strategies. Consequently, these companies often increase monthly premiums or enforce more stringent credit requirements to buffer against potential losses in the remarketing phase. This defensive posture directly reduces the affordability of leasing for cost-conscious commercial clients, who may opt to extend the lifecycle of their existing fleets rather than enter new contracts.

The impact of this instability is particularly acute in the electric vehicle segment, where technological obsolescence accelerates depreciation. According to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, in 2024, the prices of second-hand battery electric vehicles fell by more than 30 percent over the preceding year. Such severe depreciation creates a significant disconnect between the book value and market value of assets, forcing lessors to recalculate risk premiums aggressively. This financial uncertainty deters businesses from committing to long-term leasing agreements, thereby stagnating overall market volumes.

Key Market Trends

The rapid expansion of second-life vehicle leasing is reshaping the market by establishing a circular economy for automotive assets and mitigating the financial risks associated with depreciation. As leasing companies face volatility in residual values, particularly with electric vehicles, they are increasingly retaining ex-lease assets to offer them on secondary lease contracts rather than selling them into a depressed used market. This strategy extends the revenue-generating lifecycle of the vehicle and provides cost-sensitive clients with affordable access to modern fleet technology. According to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, August 2025, in the 'Leasing Outlook Report', the volume of used car leasing agreements increased by 16.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous year, underscoring the growing commercial viability of this asset retention model.

Concurrently, the proliferation of electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes is fundamentally altering the demographic of fleet users by making zero-emission mobility accessible to a wider employee base. These arrangements allow employees to pay for a vehicle from their gross salary, leveraging significant tax incentives such as low Benefit-in-Kind rates to offset the higher upfront costs of electric models. This mechanism has transitioned fleet leasing from a perk strictly for senior management or essential users to a broad organizational benefit that drives widespread electrification. According to Fleet News, November 2025, in the 'FN50 2025' report, the total number of vehicles funded through salary sacrifice schemes surged by 118 percent year-on-year, highlighting the mechanism's critical role in sustaining market volume growth.

Segmental Insights

The open-ended segment is projected to register the fastest growth in the global automotive fleet leasing market due to its inherent flexibility regarding mileage and lease terms. Unlike closed-end options, open-ended leases allow businesses to bear the residual value risk, which is suitable for commercial fleets with unpredictable usage patterns or high mileage requirements. This structure eliminates strict mileage penalties and offers companies greater control over asset disposal. Consequently, commercial enterprises increasingly prefer this leasing model to manage variable operational demands efficiently while maintaining liquidity for core business activities.

Regional Insights

North America holds the dominant position in the global automotive fleet leasing market, driven by the widespread adoption of leasing models among large corporations seeking capital efficiency. The region benefits significantly from the presence of major fleet management providers and a strong preference for operational leasing to mitigate asset depreciation risks. Additionally, strict emission standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency compel businesses to frequently upgrade to modern, compliant vehicles, thereby sustaining high demand for leasing services. This regulatory environment, combined with established commercial infrastructure, secures North America's status as the leading regional market.

Recent Developments

• In October 2024, Ayvens and Wheels renewed their long-standing strategic alliance to bolster their global service capabilities for corporate leasing clients. This reinforced partnership was established to deliver consistent fleet management and leasing services to international corporations across more than 40 countries. The collaboration allowed both entities to share data-driven methodologies and consulting tools, ensuring that clients received uniform support regardless of their geographical location. The alliance also extended its reach through additional partnerships in regions such as Africa and Asia, further solidifying the companies' commitment to providing comprehensive, sustainable mobility solutions in the global automotive fleet leasing market.
• In August 2024, Element Fleet Management Corp. announced a definitive agreement to acquire Autofleet, a fleet and mobility operations platform provider. This acquisition was intended to accelerate the company's digital strategy by integrating optimization technology into its existing global operations. The transaction allowed the organization to enhance its digital capabilities, aiming to provide commercial clients with more efficient, data-driven solutions for managing leased vehicle assets. By leveraging this proprietary technology, the fleet management provider sought to improve operational efficiency and deliver future-focused mobility services, ensuring it remained competitive within the evolving automotive fleet leasing market.
• In April 2024, Arval entered into a strategic charging partnership with Fastned and Last Mile Solutions to enhance electric vehicle accessibility for its leasing clients. This collaboration provided the company's customers with access to a vast network of over 600,000 charging points across Europe through a single platform, significantly simplifying the charging experience for fleet drivers. The initiative aligned with the company's ambitious objective to support the adoption of battery-electric vehicles and aimed to have 350,000 such units in its fleet by 2025. This move addressed the growing necessity for reliable charging infrastructure as the automotive fleet leasing market transitioned toward electrification.
• In February 2024, Ayvens announced a significant multi-billion euro frame agreement with the automaker Stellantis to acquire up to 500,000 vehicles for its long-term leasing fleet across Europe. This strategic collaboration was designed to support the progressive transition of the company's client base toward more sustainable mobility options over the subsequent three years. The deal included a diverse range of vehicle classes and propulsion types from the manufacturer's portfolio to meet varying corporate needs. The first delivery volumes were scheduled to commence in the first half of 2024, reinforcing the company's position as a leading multi-brand player in the global automotive fleet leasing market.

Key Market Players

• Element Fleet Management Corp.
• Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
• Ayvens SA
• Wheels, Inc.
• Sixt Leasing SE
• Donlen Corporation
• Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
• Caldwell Fleet Solutions
• Merchants Fleet
• AutoFlex AFV

By Lease Type	By Vehicle Type	By End User	By Region
Open Ended Close Ended	Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles	B2B B2C	North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa

Report Scope:

In this report, the Global Automotive Fleet Leasing Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

• Automotive Fleet Leasing Market, By Lease Type:

• Open Ended
• Close Ended

• Automotive Fleet Leasing Market, By Vehicle Type:

• Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles

• Automotive Fleet Leasing Market, By End User:

• B2B
• B2C

• Automotive Fleet Leasing Market, By Region:

• North America
• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Germany
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE