The car rental market has interrupted a four-year trend of steep revenue gains since the COVID pandemic.
Graphic: Bobit Business Media
Auto Rental News recently posted its annual Fact Book for 2025, which contains the latest information and insights about the state of the car rental industry in the U.S.
Overall, the industry is on target to hit about $37.9 billion in annual revenue this year, down slightly from $38.4 billion in 2023 which was a record high. The car rental market has interrupted a four-year trend of steep revenue gains since the COVID pandemic.
The year-to-year flatline resulted from level demand, a decline in rental rates, slight over-fleeting of rental cars, and higher vehicle depreciation costs. The revenue per month (RPU) was $1,387 for 2024, down slightly from $1,412 (RPU) in 2023.
ARN associate publisher and former two-decade ARN editor Chris Brown sums up the state of the industry in this issue: Welcome back to a much more manageable — if not insanely profitable — environment. But that doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. The pandemic has forever rewired the way businesses operate, including car rental.”
The industry’s “sky high profits” of 2022 and 2023 were destined to pull back somewhat, Brown states, due to record high new vehicle costs amid more inventory, resulting in better deals. Rental fleet sales in 2024 so far show a more normal pattern and kept the overall fleet sales pace on par with 2023.
Meanwhile, used cars aren’t commanding the same higher resale values as two years ago because more of them populate dealer lots.
Looking ahead, travel demand remains strong: According to U.S. Travel’s forecasting, leisure trips have already surpassed 2019, the pre-pandemic marker year, and will continue to increase over the next three years. However, international inbound and domestic business travel won’t recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2026.
The 2025 ARN Fact Book brings together insights from operators on the daily front lines of car rental and summaries of the many trends, developments, and technological quivers roiling the car rental industry.