THRIVE Market Sentiment Index
How the UK fleet market feels right now, as one number from 0 to 100. Updated by THRIVE every month.
September 2026 reading · from 69 stories
59.6/100Upbeat
Up 5.4 on August 2026. 50 is neutral. Next reading on 1 November 2026.
What is this?
THRIVE reads UK fleet news around the clock from more than 200 sources: government departments and regulators, vehicle makers, leasing and fleet companies, and trade bodies. Every story we publish is scored on one question: is this good or bad news for the people running fleets?
Once a month we turn those scores into a single number. It gives everyone a quick steer on how the market feels and which way it is heading.
- Above 55: upbeat. The month's news leaned in fleets' favour.
- 45 to 55: steady. Good and bad news roughly balanced.
- Below 45: downbeat. The news leaned against fleets.
Not an official statistic. This is THRIVE's own measure, worked out from the news we publish. It is not a survey and not government data, so read it as a guide alongside the official figures.
The THRIVE Market Sentiment Index stood at 59.6 out of 100 for September 2026, where 50 is neutral, from 69 stories: demand 69.8, supply 56.4, policy 66.9, cost 52 and residual values 52.7.
Cite this
THRIVE Market Sentiment Index, September 2026. thrivefleet.co.uk/data/sentiment-index.
The index, monthly
0 to 100, 50 = neutral
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| July | 57 |
| August | 54.2 |
| September | 59.6 |
The five dimensions, September 2026
0 to 100
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Demand | 69.8 |
| Supply | 56.4 |
| Policy | 66.9 |
| Cost | 52 |
| Residual values | 52.7 |
The index looks at five things that shape a fleet's year: demand for vehicles and fleet services, whether vehicles are easy to get, whether government policy is helping, whether costs are rising or easing, and whether used values are holding up. Each has its own score, shown in the bar chart above.
They often pull in different directions. Policy can be helpful while costs bite. Reading them separately shows where the pressure is.
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| Month | Headline | Demand | Supply | Policy | Cost | Residuals | Stories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 (retrospective) | 59.6 | 69.8 | 56.4 | 66.9 | 52 | 52.7 | 69 |
| August 2026 (retrospective) | 54.2 | 57 | 53.2 | 64.5 | 51.5 | 44.8 | 52 |
| July 2026 (retrospective) | 57 | 63.7 | 55.4 | 63.5 | 52.6 | 49.7 | 64 |
When THRIVE publishes a story, an AI model reads it and scores it on five areas: demand, supply, policy, cost and residual values. Each score runs from 1 (clearly bad news for fleets) through 3 (neutral, or not covered) to 5 (clearly good news). The model also rates how relevant the story is, from 0 to 1, so a passing mention counts for little. Contract awards count a little more the bigger they are.
At the start of each month we average the month's scores, weighted by relevance, and put each area on a 0 to 100 scale. The headline number is the average of the five. A month needs at least ten scored stories to get a reading.
The scores are an AI model's reading of each story, so treat small moves from one month to the next with care. July to September 2026 were scored from our archive when the index launched in October 2026. Method version v1.
Free JSON API - no key, open CORS, cache-friendly:
curl https://www.thrivefleet.co.uk/api/data/sentiment-index.json{ "months": [ { "month": "2026-09-01", "headline": 59.6, "demand": 69.8, … } ] }Free to use. Please credit THRIVE and link to the page a figure came from: a request, never a condition of use. See the data terms and the API guide.
Is this an official statistic?
No. It is THRIVE's own measure, worked out from the fleet news we publish. It is not a survey of fleet operators and not government data, so read it as a guide alongside the official figures.
Where does it come from?
THRIVE reads UK fleet news around the clock from more than 200 sources, including government departments and regulators, vehicle makers, leasing and fleet companies and trade bodies. Every story we publish is scored on whether it is good or bad news for fleets, and those scores make up the index.
How often does it change?
Once a month. Each reading covers the month just ended and is published on the 1st.