Tesla is the third most reliable car brand on Britain's company-car fleets, according to the 2026 FN50 reliability ranking that Fleet News published on 4 November. Only BMW and Toyota placed higher. A year earlier Tesla was eighth, and in 2024 it was fourth.
The ranking draws on data from the FN50, Fleet News's annual list of Britain's largest contract hire and leasing companies, which together run more than 1.5 million cars. The measure is mechanical failures: in 2025, the magazine said the top-ranked BMW 3 Series had "suffered the least amount of mechanical failures in the past year".
The brand ranking
| Rank | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BMW | BMW |
| 2 | Toyota | Toyota |
| 3 | Tesla | Audi |
| 4 | Volkswagen | Volkswagen |
| 5 | Kia | Kia |
| 6 | Mercedes-Benz | Volvo |
| 7 | Audi | Mercedes-Benz |
| 8 | Volvo | Tesla |
| 9 | Lexus | Lexus |
| 10 | Nissan | Hyundai |
Tesla made the biggest climb among the leading brands. Audi fell from third to seventh and Volvo from sixth to eighth. Hyundai dropped out of the top ten and Nissan came in at tenth.
The Model 3 held third, the Model Y slipped
| Rank | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Corolla | BMW 3 Series |
| 2 | BMW 3 Series | Toyota Corolla |
| 3 | Tesla Model 3 | Tesla Model 3 |
| 4 | BMW i4 | Kia Sportage |
| 5 | Kia Sportage | Volkswagen Golf |
| 6 | Lexus NX | Volvo XC60 |
| 7 | Polestar 2 | Tesla Model Y |
| 8 | Tesla Model Y | BMW i4 |
| 9 | Toyota RAV4 | Volkswagen Tiguan |
| 10 | Hyundai Tucson | Toyota Aygo |
The Model 3 is third for the second year running. Last year Fleet News linked its rise to the changes Tesla made in the late-2023 facelift. The Model Y fell one place, to eighth. This year's write-up says it fell from sixth, but the published 2025 table shows it seventh. In the magazine's words, Tesla's brand-level gain "has not been driven by every model moving in the same direction".
Four of the ten most reliable models are now electric: the Model 3, the BMW i4, the Polestar 2 and the Model Y. In 2025 there were three. The Polestar 2 entered at seventh as it approaches the end of its life cycle.
What the ranking does not show
Fleet News does not publish failure rates, the number of cars behind each position, or how the leasing companies' data are combined. The table shows order, not distance, so a third place could sit close to first or close to tenth.
Leasing fleets consist of relatively new cars, so the ranking speaks to reliability in the first years of ownership rather than long-term durability. It also moves a lot from year to year. Four of this year's top-ten models were not in last year's list, and Fleet News's own descriptions of the 2025 positions do not always match its 2025 tables.
What it means for buyers
For a British company-car driver, both Teslas are in the top ten, with the Model 3 well ahead of the Model Y. For anyone buying a used Model 3, the result comes alongside rising prices: CAP HPI data show the trade value of a three-year-old Model 3 up 20.9% in six months.
The ranking covers Britain only. No continental leasing industry publishes a comparable table, so it cannot say how the same cars fare in Germany, France or the Nordic countries.