Vehicle Rental Telematics Adoption Continues to Accelerate Worldwide
Berg Insight estimates that active telematics systems in European and North American car rental and leasing fleets reached 8.6 million at the end of 2025, with adoption forecast to rise sharply through 2030. The report points to OEM embedded vehicle data as a key factor changing how operators connect fleets.
For rental and leasing operators, telematics is no longer just about knowing where a vehicle is parked. The more difficult problem is operational: keeping vehicles available, reducing misuse, managing increasingly electrified fleets and supporting digital rental models without adding unnecessary installation work to every vehicle that enters the fleet.
That context helps explain the significance of Berg Insight’s latest figures. According to the analyst firm, the active installed base of telematics systems used in car rental and leasing fleets across Europe and North America reached 8.6 million at the end of 2025. Berg Insight expects this base to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.1 percent to 15.8 million by 2030.
The numbers also indicate that telematics is moving from optional fleet enhancement toward mainstream infrastructure in both segments. In car rental fleets, penetration across Europe and North America is expected to rise from 56 percent at the end of 2025 to 87 percent in 2030. In leasing, Berg Insight puts penetration at 49 percent at year-end 2025, increasing to 81 percent by 2030.
Why this market is changing
What makes this report particularly relevant for IoT professionals is not simply the growth forecast. The more important shift is architectural. Rental and leasing companies have historically relied heavily on aftermarket telematics devices, but Berg Insight highlights increasing use of OEM embedded telematics data as a driver of faster adoption.
That distinction matters. A conventional telematics deployment requires hardware sourcing, installation, maintenance and vehicle-by-vehicle lifecycle management. Using data already generated by connected vehicles can reduce the need for separate device installation, but it moves complexity elsewhere: operators and their technology partners must integrate data from different automotive OEMs and make it usable inside rental, leasing, mobility and fleet management systems.
This is a practical trade-off rather than a simple upgrade. OEM embedded data can accelerate coverage across fleets, especially where vehicles are frequently added or retired. At the same time, mixed-brand fleets still need consistent access to location, status and usage data if they want to run common workflows across the fleet. For system integrators and software providers, the integration layer becomes at least as important as the device.
“The telematics adoption rate has accelerated in the last few years as many rental and leasing companies utilise OEM embedded telematics data to a larger extent”, said Erica Rickard, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight.
Berg Insight notes that all major rental and leasing operators have deployed aftermarket and OEM embedded telematics solutions, though not to the same extent. Several companies are aiming to connect all or many of their vehicles in the coming years, while strategic partnerships have emerged between mobility operators, telematics service providers and automotive OEMs.
From tracking to operational data
The use cases described in the report show why telematics has become more central to rental and leasing operations. Vehicle location and status monitoring support theft prevention, fraud reduction and the management of vehicle misuse. Fleet utilisation data helps operators understand how vehicles are being used, while connected services can support digital and contactless rental models, carsharing and improved customer experience.
The sustainability angle is also becoming more concrete. Berg Insight points to the use of telematics data for monitoring CO2 emissions and driver behaviour, which can support sustainability reporting. For leasing providers in particular, that creates a data requirement that extends beyond day-to-day fleet control and into customer reporting and corporate compliance processes.
The vendor landscape reflects the hybrid nature of the market. Berg Insight identifies telematics solution providers such as Geotab, Targa Telematics, CalAmp, OCTO Telematics, Webfleet and Powerfleet, alongside companies including MySmartObject, Munic, Zubie and RentalMatics. The report also points to mobility software platforms and rental management system providers, as well as carsharing technology companies that are expanding into rental and leasing use cases.
For OEMs, the opportunity is to make embedded vehicle data commercially useful to fleet customers rather than leaving it as a closed vehicle feature. For connectivity providers, rental and leasing fleets remain a high-volume market, but one increasingly shaped by OEM data channels as well as aftermarket devices. For enterprises and industrial users operating leased fleets, the implication is more immediate: connected vehicle data is likely to become a standard expectation in fleet contracts, not a premium add-on.
The broader lesson is that telematics growth in this sector is being driven less by isolated tracking deployments and more by the integration of vehicle data into operational platforms. That is why the Berg Insight forecast is significant for the IoT ecosystem: it points to a market where value is shifting from connectivity alone to the ability to normalise, manage and act on fleet data at scale.
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