By Gerry McCaig, chief operating officer at Nexus Rental

We’ve always believed that having the right vehicle, in the right place, at the right time should simply be a hygiene factor, not an enhancement.

Now that we are in 2026, it is clear this fact is becoming a reality. Service levels are stabilising, availability is moving back to normal and the industry no longer wrestles with the supply shocks and disruption that hit the world in the early 2020s.

Instead, the real challenge in fleet has started to shift to something much more complex and strategic, focusing on the best ways to harness technology and data to deliver consistent, high-quality rental experiences no matter the place or time.

Here is what we expect to see in 2026: 

Market growth in an increasing stable, but still somewhat uncertain, economy

The wider picture for the UK in 2026 is quite mixed, the economy remains uncertain and decisions made across the world continue to have a knock-on effect for the country. Fleet rental will steadily return to growth but this will likely look different to what it has done before. There are renewed signs of confidence across the markets, with investors slowly starting to return to the fleet and mobility space. Rental remains an incredibly important element of fleet and mobility, providing suppliers and customers with the chance to control some fixed costs and avoid long-term capital commitments, which is becoming more valuable than ever.

As supply issues ease, growth is no longer linked to simply getting hold of necessary vehicles, but by which businesses can run the most efficient and reliable networks. Performance benchmarking and transparent pricing structures will continue to become increasingly important, alongside consistent delivery remaining a base expectation.

Enhanced and considered use of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already embedded itself into the fleet rental landscape, as it has with other industries, but this will go even deeper in 2026.

The industry is becoming more realistic about what can be achieved and how AI should be used in a reasonable and sustainable way. The value lies beyond embedding top tech, it’s about how it can support sensible and thought-through decision making across the entire ecosystem.

The entire rental journey, from requirement and booking through to collection and vehicle return, produces huge amounts of data which can then be used to further inform future processes. AI’s role here is not to replace the people behind the operation, but to connect the dots in processes by highlighting inefficiencies, predicting problems and supporting better and more efficient vehicle allocation. The people are still the heart of the process, ensuring relationships remain strong and data is used in the best possible way.

Most importantly, this needs to be done in a careful and considered way, ensuring the inefficiencies are not simply moved from the road to a data centre. The most sustainable way to integrate AI into business is for it to remove repetitive work so people are free to focus on service and problem solving. The best fleets will be those who can successfully blend human judgement with machine intelligence.

Further growth in the EV market

We expect to see electric vehicles continue to grow within rental fleets, but not as a sudden surge. Availability and pricing are finally reaching a point where EVs can compete with petrol and diesel vehicles, especially when it comes to longer-term rentals. When considering short-term options, costs remain more volatile due to cost sensitivities and economic activity.

What will make a real difference is when people realise that it isn’t ‘range anxiety’ impacting EVs (although the supporting infrastructure still has a way to go), it is about ‘change anxiety’. Fleet managers remain anxious about how EVs will fit into a fleet and whether they are the correct step for their respective businesses, so data is the key here. Identifying which drivers, routes and usage patterns are best suited to EVs will help integrate them into fleets without causing the perceived issues, meaning a very gradual and evidence-based transition.

It is important to highlight that policy and government support must also be improved to match the need. If the 2030 ZEV mandate remains in place or even moves back slightly in line with Europe’s 2035 target, more options must be put in place to support the integration into fleets. For some, it still may not be the correct decision, whether due to costs or anxiety, but in the coming years it will no longer be a choice. Support must be there if we are to meet the targets.

Data becomes the driving factor in the industry

Data will continue to become increasingly important in the industry. Cost, availability, performance, telematics and more are all measurable elements of the journey, but only if they are connected and reviewed in the correct way.

The businesses that will thrive are those that can aggregate and act on that information across a vast network of suppliers and vehicles. Data underpins everything from smarter allocation through to EV and AI adoption and integration. In a market where vehicles across all brands are becoming increasingly similar, intelligence is where some will stand out from the crowd.

The future of fleet isn’t about just owning vehicles, it is about understanding the role they play in a business, how they can be best utilised and the wider lifecycle on a granular level. It’s about bringing a sense of control to the uncontrollable, offering transparency and consistence across modern fleets.

As we begin to see the industry move back towards a more stable phase, the challenge is about more than just access to vehicles, it’s about how consistently and intelligently rental can be delivered.

At Nexus, we are focusing on utilising data and technology to ensure our extensive network is frictionless from start to finish. We combine human expertise with AI integration to allow for stronger decision making and greater transparency across clients and suppliers. This allows us to support fleets with EV integration on a smarter level and benchmark performance effectively. Our role is to connect the journey in a way that delivers better outcomes all around, and our data is enabling us to do that.