'Not only companies: rental wins the interest of private individuals'

He has led Aniasa, the association representing car rental companies in Confindustria, through a period of radical transformation in the sector, conditioned by the drop in registration volumes after Covid, the slow-motion transition to electric cars, and an upward dynamic in prices, which has contributed to the change in usage patterns. "Rental registrations continue to grow despite the contraction of the car market, so the phenomenon of shifting from ownership to use is becoming more and more evident," emphasises outgoing president Alberto Viano, who gives an analysis of the changes in the sector in recent years. Italo Folonari, CEO of Mercury, will be the new president of Aniasa: he was unanimously elected by the association's general assembly on 2 December, with a four-year term of office starting on 1 January 2026.

The strengthening trend in the rental market is an uneven phenomenon. "Captive companies linked to manufacturers are growing well, they have learnt the rental 'trade' and are proposing it on their sales channels, with volume increases of up to 60%," explains Viano, "while the historic, independent companies are recording a minus sign in registrations year-on-year. From this point of view, the Volkswagen case speaks volumes: the German manufacturer has recorded a record result in the rent-a-car sector this year, and in the third quarter of the year it registered more registrations than Leasys, the historical company in the sector, in the rental typology. "The mode of supply has changed, and instead of doing classic pay-back financed contracts, we are doing contracts financed by rental companies," adds Viano.

The rental car fleet grew by 3% in the first half of the year. In just a few years, the rental market has gained a share of close to 30% of the market, reaching 90-95% in the company car and corporate sector, at the same time growing in the private segment and in certain modes such as rent-to-rent. "There is therefore expansion into new market segments," Viano concludes. Rental registrations grew in the third quarter of the year by 23.8% (Aniasa-Dataforce) for both long and short term. If we also look at commercial vehicles, overall registrations have grown by 10.3% since January. An interesting variable is the fast growth of Chinese brands and manufacturers. "Chinese companies are interested in all sectors, from direct sales to rental, and we see a number of agreements emerging such as the one between Geely and Aidens. This is a commercial strategy that can quickly guarantee penetration of the Italian market,' explains Viano.

Against this backdrop, the sector, which is seeing the growth of 'formulas that get people used to having a non-owned car,' says Viano, remains tied to 30-year-old legislation and unfavourable taxation compared to other major European marathons. On the contrary. With the government's intervention on fringe benefits, the taxation on 'unplugged' models has increased. 'Put like that I think it was a serious mistake,' argues Viano, 'in the sense that the legislator's objective should be to support the car market and the evolution of the car fleet. To have so brutally changed the regulations for users, favouring 'niche' forms, aimed at high-spending consumers, was not a move to democratise the market and has led to a slowdown in the replacement rate on the company market and a lengthening of contracts'.

As far as electric cars are concerned, there is a premise to be made according to Viano: 'The crisis in the car market began before the electric transition, driven partly because in a saturated market it is useful to introduce a new technology to stimulate replacement,' Viano reasons. In the long-term rental segment, the third quarter of 2025, Viano points out, 'saw an increase of over 40%, on a share that is admittedly still limited but has risen from 4% to 7%, with a growth rate that is still important, although Italy is still lagging behind'.