After four years of decline due to higher prices for used vehicles, auto leasing is back on the rise and has accounted for nearly 14 percent of new-vehicle sales by Detroit automakers in the second quarter, up from about 8 percent last year, according to a recent L.A. Times article.
After four years of decline due to higher prices for used vehicles, auto leasing is back on the rise and has accounted for nearly 14 percent of new-vehicle sales by Detroit automakers in the second quarter, up from about 8 percent last year, according to a recent L.A. Times article.
Industry-wide, leasing has accounted for 20 percent of new-vehicle sales so far this year, up from 18 percent last year, but down from its peak of 36 percent in 1999.
Vehicles coming off leases at the end of contracts are typically sold at resale auctions; however when residual values are lower than expected, automakers can lose money. According to Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), automakers are expanding their lease offers with the escalation of used-car prices.
Some vehicles returned at the end of the lease are mechanically tweaked and sold to consumers as certified used cars, backed by factory warranties. Factory warranties are sometimes extended on late-model vehicles with low mileage and no major damages.
CAR’s annual Fleet Remarketing Awards opened a reimagined 2026 conference designed to bridge the worlds of fleet management and automotive remarketing.
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AI is no longer a luxury but the baseline for profitability in 2026. Auto haulers that adopt these tools now will quickly outpace those that use manual workflows or take a wait-and-see approach.
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The second half of CAR 2026 examined how fleets can translate lifecycle strategy, vehicle data, and market shifts into higher real-world results.
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The 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing convened with a mandate to involve a new constituency — fleet managers — and an updated mission to demonstrate unrealized value in de-fleeted vehicles.
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From a Wall Street analyst's take on remarketing's key players to whether fleets need their own version of Carfax, CAR 2026's afternoon roundtables will answer key operational and industry questions.
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Work trucks lose value at remarketing, not because they aren't worth more, but because the data to prove it rarely makes it to the auction.
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The enhanced technology allows rental car operations, dealerships, and auctions to compare a vehicle’s condition at pickup and drop-off within the same rental or loaner record.
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A panel at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing will examine how resale value is created across the vehicle lifecycle and which traditional remarketing practices still deliver ROI.
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Smart operational and spec'ing decisions can dramatically improve both the total cost of ownership during use and the resale value when it's time to remarket day cabs.
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Smart remarketing begins before vehicles enter the fleet, and is built on strong data and stronger FMC partnerships.
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