U.S. Car Rental Market Brief 2026
- Published:
- May 2026
- Research Type:
- Report
- Segment:
- Car Rental & Ground Transportation
- Region:
- U.S. & Canada
Summary
The U.S. car rental market grew 1% in 2025 as resilient leisure demand was offset by pricing pressure, airport weakness and fleet disruptions from vehicle recalls. In a year marked by uncertainty, the car rental market was squeezed from all directions. Looking ahead, growth is expected to remain modest as operators focus on utilization, direct digital bookings and tighter fleet management.
This Brief delivers top-level takeaways for the U.S. car rental travel market, featuring charts and analysis on the key trends, segment highlights and market sizing datapoints that matter most.
Please note: The U.S. Car Rental Market Brief 2026 is part of Phocuswright’s U.S. Travel Market Report 2026 series. With the single purchase of this series, the following reports (available now or publishing soon) are automatically included at no additional cost:
- U.S. Airline Market Essentials 2026
- U.S. Car Rental Market Brief 2026
- U.S. Cruise Market Essentials 2026
- U.S. Hotel & Lodging Market Essentials 2026
- U.S. Online Travel Agency Market Essentials 2026
- U.S. Packaged Travel Market Brief 2026
- U.S. Travel Market Report 2026
- U.S. Travel Market Data Sheet 2026 (subscriber only)
