Skip to content
News

Fleets increasingly operating used vehicles, Arval finds

58% of fleets now have used cars and vans, up from 52% last year.

2 min read
Share
fleets used vehicles

The 2026 edition of the Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer has found that UK fleets are increasingly operating used vehicles.

58% of fleets now have used cars and vans, up from 52% last year.

A further 31% of fleets said they are considering adding used vehicles over the next three years, up from 27% in 2025.

Larger companies were more likely to operate used vehicles, with 63% of those with more than 1,000 employees operating them, compared with 59% with between 100 and 999 employees and 56% of those with fewer than 100 employees.

UK fleets more commonly operate used vehicles than the European (42%) and global average (41%), which Arval said could be tracked back to Covid-19, when UK fleets faced worse new vehicle availability due to the UK being a right-hand-drive market.

John Peters, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said: “The manner in which used vehicles have become an established part of the fleet market is an interesting trend.

“The shortage of new cars and vans during the pandemic prompted many fleets to consider pre-owned options, and incorporating them into long-term acquisition strategies has subsequently become recognised as an effective option.

“This is enabled by the improved durability and quality of today’s cars and vans. Modern designs maintain safety, operational cost-effectiveness, and good overall cosmetic condition for significantly longer periods than in the past.

“To some extent, this is an unexpected finding but the key is that used vehicles are much more likely to be employed to fill gaps in fleet provision than as a core part of operations.

“Trying to buy 20 identical used models that can be added to a fleet is going to be difficult – but adding a couple to be operated as pool vehicles is relatively easy.

“Also, used fleet vehicles are currently much more likely to be cars, operated by 53% of our respondents compared to just 15% for vans.

“This underlines the likely pool fleet role.”

Related