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Commercial Fleets Start Year With Double-Digit Gain

After flat-to-low monthly sales in 2025, fleets bounced back in vehicle purchases in January.

Fleet sales green and black bar graphs comparing Januarys 2025 and 2026.

Commercial fleet sales rose to 57,132 vehicles last month, up from 50,387 in January 2025, a 13.4% increase.

Credit: Automotive Fleet

2 min to read


Commercial and rental fleets started 2026 with double-digit gains over last year, while government fleets posted a smaller increase, according to monthly fleet sales figures released by Bobit Business Media on Feb. 3. 

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Total fleet sales for January built on the momentum that carried over from last year. 

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Sales gains in the three fleet segments for January 2026 were as follows:

  • Commercial fleet sales rose to 57,132 vehicles last month, up from 50,387 in January 2025, a 13.4% increase.

  • Rental fleet sales hopped 16.1% for the month, from 90,237 rental cars sold in January 2025 to 104,725 vehicles sold last month.

  • Government fleet vehicles, which fared the worst of the three fleet sectors throughout 2025, started the year on a modestly positive trend, with 18,028 vehicles sold in January, up 5.1% from 17,148 in January 2025. (Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota did not provide any government fleet numbers for January.)

That resulted in total January fleet sales of 179,885, up 14% from 157,772 in January 2025.

"Economic growth provides support for growth in various U.S. sectors such as manufacturing and retail, which is favorable to commercial vehicle demand," said Zohaib Rahim, senior manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive. "Both OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) and the current economic environment are supporting commercial fleet vehicles, which is leading to the positive momentum to start 2026."

Bobit Business Media (BBM), owner of Automotive Fleet and Vehicle Remarketing, compiles fleet sales statistics based on aggregate data from the three major Detroit-based auto manufacturers, the Asian Big 7 automakers, and VW. The statistics include cars, SUVs, and trucks.


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