Vehicle rental, leasing and sharing have traditionally involved a series of manual processes between the end of one customer's journey and the start of the next. Once a vehicle was returned, rental operators needed to record mileage and fuel levels, inspect the vehicle, assess whether maintenance or cleaning was required, update the rental agreement and prepare the vehicle for its next customer. At busy rental locations, particularly airports, these activities could create operational delays and keep vehicles out of service for longer than necessary.
The growing use of connected vehicles, telematics, IoT technologies and automated data platforms is changing this process. Instead of relying entirely on employees to physically check and record vehicle information, rental and mobility operators can increasingly receive data remotely and automatically. Fuel level, mileage, vehicle location, return time and other vehicle information can be transmitted directly to the operator's systems, helping accelerate vehicle returns, reduce manual intervention and improve fleet utilisation. A recent Transforma Insights report ‘Vehicle Rental, Leasing & Sharing Management: Digitalisation and automation driving 21.7 million connected devices by 2035’, examines how connectivity and IoT are increasingly reshaping the operational model of vehicle rental, leasing and sharing providers.
The traditional vehicle rental process has typically required customers to visit a rental location, complete documentation, collect a physical key and undergo a manual vehicle handover. Similar processes have applied at vehicle return, where staff may need to record mileage and fuel levels, inspect the vehicle and determine whether cleaning or maintenance is required before it can be made available to another customer. Digitalisation is changing this model. Mobile applications and cloud-based platforms are increasingly supporting reservations, identity verification, vehicle access, digital documentation and vehicle returns. For operators, the transition is not simply about providing customers with a more convenient digital interface. It is also about automating operational processes that have historically required staff intervention, reducing costs and making processes more robust.
Connected vehicles are particularly important in this transition because they allow information about the vehicle to be transmitted automatically to the operator. This creates the potential for rental and sharing businesses to manage vehicles as connected digital assets rather than relying solely on physical interaction at rental locations. For instance, SIXT has been using connected vehicles to automatically transmit information such as mileage and fuel levels when vehicles are returned. The company has linked this capability to faster processing and improved vehicle availability. The broader implication is that connectivity can reduce the operational friction between the end of one rental and the point at which a vehicle becomes available for the next customer.
Digital keys are one of the most visible examples of this transition. Rather than collecting a physical key from a rental counter, customers can increasingly use a smartphone to access a vehicle. This enables contactless pickup and return, allowing rental operators to automate vehicle handovers, reduce staff intervention and support unattended rental models. Hertz, for example, offers Tesla rentals where customers can use the Tesla mobile application as a digital key. The process allows eligible customers to connect their smartphone to the rented Tesla and use it to unlock and access the vehicle, reducing reliance on traditional physical key handover.
Enterprise GO provides another example. The service, operated by Enterprise in Switzerland, allows customers to complete the rental process through a digital platform, receive a digital key and access their vehicle without a conventional physical key handover. The model demonstrates how digital identity verification, smartphone-based access and connected vehicles can be combined to create a contactless rental experience.
This trend is particularly relevant to car-sharing services, where the traditional rental counter can potentially be removed altogether. Customers can reserve a vehicle, authenticate themselves, unlock it through an application, use it and return it without requiring a member of staff to be present at any stage.
The next stage of this transformation is not limited to collecting basic vehicle data. Rental operators are increasingly combining connectivity with digital inspection, computer vision and artificial intelligence. Information on vehicle location, mileage, usage and availability can help operators determine where vehicles should be positioned to meet demand. It can also support vehicle relocation, maintenance planning and utilisation optimisation. For large fleets, even relatively small improvements in vehicle availability can have a significant operational and commercial impact. The growing use of AI is also enabling operators to move from reactive maintenance to predictive fleet management. For instance, Penske Truck Leasing company operates approximately 433,000 leased vehicles, each equipped with telematics devices that collect data on engine performance, engine temperature, fuel consumption, and braking events. The data is analysed using Penske’s proprietary AI platform ‘Catalyst AI’. The platform processes roughly 300 million data points per day. The system has helped Penske identify maintenance requirements such as tyre and vehicle hose (such as brake, heater, coolant, and trailer/gladhand hoses) issues earlier, enabling faster intervention before they lead to delays or vehicle downtime.
Together, these developments point to a broader transformation in rental and leasing operations. A vehicle returning from one customer can increasingly become a source of automatically generated data: its mileage and fuel level can be captured through connectivity, its location can be known remotely, its external condition can potentially be assessed through automated inspection, and maintenance requirements can be identified through connected vehicle information. The objective is not simply to make the rental experience more digital for customers. It is to make the vehicle itself a connected asset that can continuously communicate its status to the organisation operating it.
Developments such as Hertz's Tesla Digital Key, Enterprise GO's contactless rental model and Penske's Fleet Insight platform demonstrate that connected mobility is moving beyond pilot projects and becoming embedded in day-to-day rental and fleet operations. At the same time, recent market developments also demonstrate that connectivity alone does not guarantee commercial success. In 2025, Zipcar, a car sharing company, announced that it would cease operations in the UK, Getaround, a peer-to-peer car sharing platform, exited the US market following financial difficulties, and PANEK, a polish car sharing and vehicle rental company, discontinued its car-sharing operations in Poland to focus on its vehicle rental business. Together these developments highlight the commercial challenges facing some car sharing business models despite widespread adoption of connected vehicle technologies. They suggest that while digital platforms, telematics and smartphone based vehicle access have become established capabilities, commercial success will increasingly depend on operators' ability to achieve sufficient vehicle utilisation, control operating costs and adapt their business models to local demand and competitive market conditions.
The evolution of vehicle rental, leasing and sharing is moving beyond simply putting an application in front of the customer. Digital keys, connected vehicle platforms, telematics, analytics and AI-enabled inspection are collectively changing how vehicles are accessed, monitored, maintained and redeployed. However, long-term competitive advantage will depend not only on technology adoption but also on how effectively operators translate these capabilities into efficient operations, higher fleet utilisation and commercially sustainable business models.
