Liquid Fleet has announced fleet growth of 28% in the first six months of 2026 amid rising demand for short-term leasing and the company’s increased presence in the LCV sector.
The vehicle leasing and fleet management company reported that corporates continue to take advantage of short-term leases to meet staff business motoring needs.
This bodes well for its target of reaching 5,000 vehicles by 2028 against the current backdrop of the new and used markets continuing to respond to the ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy.
“The first half of 2026 has been very positive for us, and we continue to experience a growth in demand for short-term leasing from corporates as they avoid making too many long-term contractual commitments around their car fleet,” said Martin Potter, Liquid Fleet’s commercial director.
“The demand from rental brokers has also increased as they experience strong and increased demand for short-term vehicles.
“Overall business sentiment is quietly optimistic with everyone still spending and investing whilst keeping a very close eye on cost control, and that includes the OEMs.”
At the end of quarter two, OEM offers are generally available as they aim to meet end-of-quarter sales targets, but this year, these didn’t materialise in the same volume as previous years. Instead, manufacturers seem keen to balance their production and supply more in line with demand which might be a smart way of helping manage residual values on their future stock rather than flood the market.
At the disposal end, the used market remains short of stock in ‘sweet spot’ areas such as EVs and ex-fleet cars, buoyed by increased consumer demand for EVs on the back of the fuel price hike in the last three months post the Iran war, but wholesale prices across the board remain flat.
Liquid Fleet’s new LCV sales division is also contributing to growth, increasing its market presence in the 12- to 24-month lease arena based on customer requests and feedback.
The central proposition remains a 12-month lease, but LCV operators often prefer a 24-month replacement cycle to minimise de-fleeting and avoid the immediate costs of replacing racking, fitting of deadlocks, Chapter 8 traffic management accessories and signwriting. These are all subsidiary services that Liquid Fleet now provides as part of its one-stop shop proposition.
Liquid Fleet said it remains in a good place for continued growth with strong and increasing funding lines in place with a growing number of manufacturers, alongside an ongoing recruitment strategy that will see its sales team continue to expand through 2026 and into 2027.
“We continue to build our national growth potential by increasing the size of our sales team and we have strong relationships with OEMs that provide access to a wide range of new cars to satisfy a growth in demand. At a used level, the early Chinese cars we purchased are generating strong residuals and we have already committed to an even larger number of similar vehicles to add to our fleet.
“Meanwhile, the interest in EVs continues to rise in the corporate sector while the rental sector is receiving EV enquiries from renters which shows the EV market continues to make progress,” finished Potter.
