Rental & Leasing Services

NAICS 532 covers establishments that rent or lease tangible assets — vehicles, equipment, tools, furniture, and other goods — to customers for a specified period, as well as lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets like patents and trademarks. This subsector provides the flexible-access alternative to ownership, serving both consumers and businesses across construction, transportation, entertainment, and household markets.

The automotive rental segment is dominated by Hertz, Avis Budget Group (which owns Budget and Zipcar), and Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise, National, Alamo) — together controlling over 95% of the U.S. airport car rental market. Enterprise Holdings, a privately held company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, is the largest fleet operator with over 1.7 million vehicles across its brands. Equipment rental is led by United Rentals (Stamford, Connecticut), the world's largest equipment rental company, followed by Sunbelt Rentals and Herc Holdings. These firms supply construction sites, industrial facilities, and event venues with everything from excavators and aerial lifts to temporary power generators.

Fleet depreciation and residual value management are the defining financial dynamics. Rental companies purchase assets at volume discounts, earn revenue during the rental period, and then dispose of vehicles and equipment through wholesale channels, dealer auctions (Manheim, ADESA), or direct retail sales. The spread between acquisition cost, rental income, and disposition value determines profitability. Federal tax provisions including Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation schedules directly affect the economics of equipment leasing for both lessors and lessees.