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

The total cost of ownership (TCO) experts at Vincentric deliver another quarterly update on ownership costs for fleets. These fleet cost-per-mile calculations are for the first quarter of 2025.

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

In the latest snapshot, TCO for fleet vehicles overall remained mostly steady from January to April 2025, with a few notable shifts, particularly among luxury car and SUV categories.

Luxury Car TCO Sees Relief

Among all segments, luxury cars posted the most significant decrease in ownership costs, with cost per mile dropping about 2.3% quarter-over-quarter. 

While Vincentric notes that a base finance rate drop (from 6.75% to 6.31%) had a broad impact across all segments, it notably affected luxury cars more due to their higher up-front costs.

This dip reverses a steady incline seen through most of 2024 and brings luxury cars to their lowest cost-per-mile average since November 2023. In the past year, costs slid from above $1.30 last April to below $1.26 today.

SUV and Pickup Segments Tick Up

By contrast, the SUV and luxury SUV segments saw incremental cost gains of around 2.3% and 0.8%, respectively. According to Vincentric, both segments experienced 3% to 4% increases in depreciation, which offset gains made from reduced financing costs.

Non-luxury pickups, meanwhile, remained the highest-cost segment overall, climbing back to the $1.00-per-mile mark in January before receding slightly. Still, they continue to trend above passenger cars and SUVs in long-term ownership costs.

Flatline for Passenger Cars

The passenger car segment held steady with no significant cost movement in the quarter. Despite fluctuations in financing and fuel trends, the segment shows consistent CPM stability dating back to mid-2024.

Steady Costs After Spikes

Following cost spikes in early 2024 and depreciation-driven increases in Q4, this quarter's relative calm aligns with Vincentric’s past trendline: cost fluctuations now appear more modest and tied to individual vehicle classes rather than systemic inflation or external shocks.