Research Insights The U.S. car rental market is stabilizing. That doesn’t mean smooth.

The U.S. car rental market is stabilizing. That doesn’t mean smooth.

Published:
June 2026
Analyst:
Phocuswright Research

The U.S. car rental market held its ground in 2025, but the path to get there was anything but clean. Phocuswright's newly released U.S. Car Rental Market Brief 2026 breaks down exactly what pressured the segment last year, where the recovery is taking shape and what structural shifts are quietly reshaping how cars get rented in America.

International demand left a mark. Airport locations generate the bulk of revenue for the major operators, which made 2025's inbound travel slump particularly painful. The U.S. saw a sharp decline in international visitors, with Canadian arrivals falling dramatically. For an industry where two-thirds of revenue is airport-derived, that kind of exposure isn't an abstraction — it shows up directly in rental day volumes and pricing power.


Bookings are moving, and they're moving direct. Supplier-direct online already commands the largest share of gross bookings, and that share is growing. Meanwhile, reservation and call center channels are in steady decline. Large operators are investing heavily in apps, digital keys and personalized offers to deepen that direct relationship and reduce distribution costs. For OTAs and smaller independent players, the competitive picture is getting tighter.

The broader market is forecast to grow steadily through 2029, but the story isn't really about growth rates. It's about who owns the customer relationship, how fleets get managed and which operators are building for the next cycle, not just surviving the current one.

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. 

Other publications in the U.S. Travel Market Report 2026 series (available now or publishing soon) include: 

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