34% of the car market goes to rental, Chinese brands and short-term rental
Aniasa-Dataforce survey on the first quarter of the year: long-term suffers but weight of private and plug-in engines increases
The share of rental in the Italia car market is rising. The analysis conducted by Aniasa and Dataforce certifies that in the first quarter of the year, rentals are close to a 34% share of registrations on the domestic market. Rental as a whole grew by 10%, with passenger cars doing well overall, while the commercial vehicle segment recorded a decline.
The numbers
Very positive signs are coming in the 'short term' (+58.3%) for cars, while light commercial vehicles are doing badly (-23.4%). In the 'long-term', however, the indicators are in the red for both sectors, -3.5% for passenger cars and -9.9% for work vehicles under 3.5 tonnes. Looking at both types of hire, cars grew by 12% while commercial vehicles fell by 11%: -9.9% for 'long-term' and -23.4% for 'short-term'.
Registration figures for the first quarter indicate an overall increase in volumes of over 16 thousand units, in absolute terms, with a total of approximately 179 thousand registrations for the various types of rental. In order to read the long-term rental data correctly, it is necessary to remember that in the same period in 2025 the sector recorded a peak above all for captive companies, linked to the Consip call for tenders, while in the NBT (Short Term Rental) events such as the Milan-Cortina Olympics had a positive influence.
"Regulatory uncertainty and inadequate taxation on company cars still penalise long-term rental with many corporate customers still preferring to postpone the renewal of their fleet," commented Aniasa chairman Italo Folonari. "A serious review of taxation that aligns the treatment reserved for Italian companies with that reserved for European competitors can no longer be put off. The Government's opportunity is just around the corner, with the imminent definition of the Reform Proxy Law in which, according to current legislative forecasts, it will have to intervene on the levels of deductibility of company car costs".
Favourite models
In the Q1 2026 ranking, the Fiat Panda confirmed its position as the most rented model in the long term, with 6,000 units, down 44% in favour, however, of the new Grande Panda, which took second place in the space of a year, with around 4,000 units rented from the NLT (Long Term Rental).
