Fleet TCO Continues Upward Trend

Welcome to the latest installment of Fleet Data Depot, which provides snapshots of information, trends, and analysis relevant to the fleet market.

In this edition, the total cost of ownership experts at Vincentric deliver another quarterly update on per-mile ownership costs for fleets over the previous 12 months. These fleet cost-per-mile calculations are for the second quarter of 2023, April 1 to June 30. 

This analysis is based on vehicles driven 20,000 miles per year for a three-year window. As usual, Vincentric calculates its standard eight cost elements: depreciation, financing, fees and taxes, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs.

Fleet Vehicle Costs Rise Again 

The Fleet Cost per Mile for each vehicle category raised slightly this quarter by the following amounts: 

• Passenger Car: increased by ~4.6% 
• SUVs: ~3.8% 
• Pickups: ~4.7% 
• Luxury Car: ~4.1% 
• Luxury SUVs: ~5.5% 

These increases in cost per mile over the last quarter were primarily caused by an increase in financing costs and opportunity costs, Vincentric reports. Financing costs increased 11% to 14% across each vehicle category, according to Vincentric data. Opportunity costs increased 27% to 30% across each category as well. 

Rising Interest Rates Drive Cost Increases 

Interest rates increased since last quarter, which is likely the main reason for the overall increase in financing costs. 

Costs in the second quarter of 2023 accelerated compared to the first quarter, which saw increases that were less pronounced.  

Financing and interest costs are also factored into how Vincentric calculates opportunity cost, which means that the increased financing costs would also contribute to the increase in opportunity cost, Vincentric said. 

Costs per mile can also be affected by the addition of new vehicles that Vincentric receives from its data provider each month.  

Adding to the total number of vehicles in a category can also cause fluctuations in cost per mile on a month-to-month basis. For instance, 2024 model-year vehicles are beginning to be added to the database.