US commercial vehicle fleet registrations roaring back from pandemic lows

Fueled by the surging lease/rental industry, commercial vehicle fleets (classes 1-8) in the US market have seen a 22% year-over-year spike for the January-June period.

Although US registrations are still 10% below pre-pandemic levels (compared to H1 2019), fleets are showing strength once again.

Among the trends in the fleet industry:

• The lease/rental industry is the fastest-growing vocation in 2023 after being the toughest hit by the pandemic. Fleets like Penske, U-Haul, and Enterprise saw 40-60% decreases in new registrations during the <span/>pandemic, but are having their largest year since 2019.
• Last-mile delivery was one of the only vocations to see <span/>new registration increases during the pandemic and continues to shine with companies like Amazon <span/>tripling new registrations from 2019.
• Class 5 showed the only decrease in registrations. Cab-chassis and incomplete pickups had the most inventory during the pandemic - resulting in a flattening of the curve in 2023.

As for electrified commercial vehicles, "last mile" delivery vehicles have shown to be a lively sector, with more than 10,000 electric cargo vans and pickups registered in the first half of 2023. Among the other <span/>EV trends:

• New EV offerings from Ford, BrightDrop, and Rivian are propelling a 304% increase in Class 2 EV registrations. Fleets such as Amazon, Walmart, Penske, and FedEx are leading the charge in EV adoption.
• Upcoming EV pickup launches from Chevrolet and Ram should continue to help this EV sales boom.
• By contrast, retail EV purchases have increased "only" 60% during the same period - showing how much faster electrification is being adopted by the commercial industry. Some <span/>context, however: While new commercial EV registration increases show lofty percentages, those registrations are still only 1% of total commercial fleet registrations.

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This article was published by S&P Global Mobility and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.