The concept of telematics is a combination of telecommunications - long-distance communications - and informatics - the science of information. Telematics in general thus refers to the collection of information related to remote objects such as vehicles via telecommunications networks. The introduction of telematics technology in the context of rental and leasing commonly supports asset management and stolen vehicle tracking as well as carsharing and digital mobility offerings. Solutions of the latter type generally enable automotive rental or leasing companies to differentiate their offerings to current and prospective clients.
The connected car is a major trend in the automotive industry and most carmakers today offer telematics services as standard on new vehicles. Several categories of car telematics applications supported by both aftermarket and OEM telematics systems are used by car rental and leasing companies. Examples include emergency call and roadside assistance, stolen vehicle tracking and recovery (SVT/SVR), vehicle diagnostics, convenience applications, keyless vehicle access and usagebased pricing.
Rental and leasing telematics systems in active use to reach 12.3 million by 2028
Car rental services allow customers to rent cars for a specific period, usually ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. The total average fleet managed by car rental companies in 2023 was about 4.4 million cars in Europe and North America. Vehicle leasing refers to the leasing of a motor vehicle for a fixed period at an agreed cost. The leasing market can broadly be divided into financial and full-service leasing. Vehicle leasing has historically mainly been a financial service but now also allows customers to outsource the ownership and entire management of their vehicles in a full-service lease model. In a full-service lease, the client pays the leasing company a regular monthly lease payment to cover financing, depreciation of the vehicle and various services provided in relation to the use of the vehicle.
The analyst expects that the number of telematics systems deployed by rental and leasing companies will increase at a steady rate in the next years. Key influencers expected to boost the telematics market in this vertical include the connected car trend driven by the vehicle OEMs and related service providers, the need for fleet owners to increase fleet utilisation and decrease the carbon footprint, the emergence of new mobility services and the general electrification trend in the automotive industry. The total number of active OEM and aftermarket telematics systems in use in the European rental and leasing market reached around 3.28 million at the end of 2023.
The total installed base in Europe is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6 percent to 6.79 million in 2028. In North America, the total number of OEM and aftermarket telematics systems in use is forecasted to increase from around 2.89 million at the end of 2023 to reach 5.53 million by 2028, representing a CAGR of 13.9 percent. The telematics penetration rate in the total population of rental vehicles in Europe and North America was about 37.2 percent and 42.8 percent respectively at year-end 2023. The corresponding numbers for the car leasing market were 32.2 percent in Europe and 44.3 percent in North America at the end of 2023.
The car rental and leasing markets are gradually consolidating, and a handful of major North American and European companies dominate each market. Rental and leasing companies with notable activities within the implementation of telematics include Enterprise Mobility, Hertz Corporation, Avis Budget Group, Europcar Mobility Group, Sixt Group, Arval, Leasys, Element Fleet Management, Ayvens and Alphabet. Players in the rental and leasing industry can either develop telematics programs independently or rely on partners to varying degrees. Multiple leading rental and leasing companies use a combination of centralised and decentralised telematics strategies across their footprints. In addition to the traditional car rental operators, several companies exclusively offer fully digital and contactless car rental services enabled by telematics solutions. Examples of these are Liigu, Locauto Elefast, Toosla and Virtuo.
The telematics solution market for rental and leasing fleets is dominated by players such as Geotab, Targa Telematics, OCTO Telematics, CalAmp (Lojack), Webfleet, Powerfleet, Munic, MySmartObject, Connected Cars and RentalMatics. Leading hardware telematics vendors such as Teltonika Telematics and Ruptela are also serving the market. Several telematics service providers such as Fourth Tier, RentalMatics, TSD Mobility Solutions, Zubie, WITTE:digital, HQ Rental Software, Kirrk and Autofleet specialise in solutions for the rental industry. Some players specialising in carsharing telematics have broadened their product portfolio to target car rental and leasing companies.
Examples of leading carsharing telematics technology vendors include Invers, Vulog, OpenFleet, WeGo Carsharing, Convadis and Atom Mobility. Automotive OEMs are increasingly taking an active part in the ecosystem by offering OEM telematics services or utilising connected car services via its captive rental and leasing companies. Examples include General Motors, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Ford, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, Toyota, Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai.
Hightlights from the report
- Insights from 30 executive interviews with market leading companies.
- New data on rental and leasing fleets.
- Comprehensive overview of the rental and leasing telematics value chain.
- In-depth analysis of market trends and key developments.
- Case Studies of telematics activities among 21 car rental and leasing companies.
- Detailed profiles of 33 companies that serve the rental and leasing companies.
- Market forecasts by segment and region lasting until 2028.
The report answers the following questions
- What is the current status of the telematics activities among rental and leasing fleets?
- Which are the leading providers of rental and leasing telematics services?
- How are the vehicle OEMs involved in the ecosystem?
- How will the market evolve in Europe and North America?
- How will the telematics-based corporate carsharing market evolve in the upcoming years?
- What technology choices are there for rental and leasing fleet operators?
- How will the carsharing market evolve in Europe and North America?
- Which are the key future trends in this industry?
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Samples
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Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Avis Budget Group
- Drivalia
- Enterprise Mobility
- Europcar Mobility Group
- Green Motion
- Hertz Corporation
- Sixt Group
- Fully digital car rental companies
- Ayvens (ALD Automotive and LeasePlan)
- Alphabet
- Arval
- Athlon
- Element Fleet Management
- Leasys
- Lex Autolease
- Volkswagen Financial Services
- Wheels
- Airmax Remote
- CalAmp (LoJack International)
- Connected Cars
- Geotab
- Guidepoint Systems
- Invers
- Munic
- MySmartObject
- OCTO Telematics
- OpenFleet
- Powerfleet
- RentalMatics
- Targa Telematics
- Vulog
- Webfleet
- WeGo Carsharing
- Zubie
- Software platform providers
- Atom Mobility
- Autofleet
- Beast
- Coastr
- Eccocar
- Fourth Tier
- HQ Rental Software
- Kirrk
- TSD Mobility Solutions
- Ufodrive (Ufofleet)
- Vinli
- In-vehicle telematics systems providers
- Continental
- Convadis
- Ruptela
- Teltonika Telematics
Methodology
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