Fleet sales decreased month over month but rose steeply year over year. Sales into rental rocketed 531% year over year.
Graphic: Cox Automotive
In June, 138,801 total fleet units were sold, an 18% month-over-month decrease compared to 168,166 in May but a 63% increase from June 2020, which recorded 85,104 units, according to a Cox Automotive news release.
This brings the first-half total combined large rental, commercial, and government purchases of new vehicles to 969,751. First-half fleet sales increased 5% over this time in 2020 but decreased 41% from the same time in 2019 when 1.63 million units were sold.
Sales into rental increased 531% year over year in June but remain down 3% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year. Commercial sales gained 13% year over year and are up 27% in 2021. Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into the dealer and manufacturer channel, we estimate that the remaining retail sales were up 15% year over year in June, leading to an estimated retail seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 13.4 million, up from 11.6 million last June but down from June 2019’s 13.6 million rate.
June total new-vehicle sales were up 18% year over year, with the same number of selling days compared to June 2020. The June SAAR came in at 15.4 million, an increase from last year’s 13 million but down from June 2019’s 17.2 million rate.
2021 year-to-date total combined large rental, commercial, and government purchases of new vehicles to 969,751 units, a 5% increase from this time in 2020 when 923,603 units were sold but a 41% decrease from the same time in 2019 when 1.63 million units were sold.
Cox estimates a 35% increase in retail sales with commercial fleet up 27%, rental down 3%, and government down 15% compared to the same time in 2020.
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.
Read More →
The Association, dedicated to advancing the remarketing phase of the vehicle lifecycle, held its kick-off meeting on April 16 at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR) in Cleveland.
Read More →
Franchised and independent dealers had a total of 1.95 million used vehicles in stock in March, the lowest on record in the current data set.
Read More →
The fleet sector is performing stronger than last year, outpacing the rental and government fleet sectors.
Read More →
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.
Read More →
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.
Read More →
New EV sales declined year over year in February while used EV demand rose, as prices fell and inventory tightened across both segments.
Read More →
The company has processed more than 10 million pounds of EV battery black mass, highlighting growing demand for recycling and lifecycle management as more electric vehicles enter the used market.
Read More →
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.
Read More →
Solid demand at Manheim auctions with higher sales conversion rates indicate an appetite from dealers to buy.
Read More →
