Consumer car finance volumes falls by 2% in February

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market reported new business volumes down 2% in February, compared with the same month in 2016, while the value of new business was up by 2% over the same period.

New business in the POS consumer new car finance market fell 3% by volume in February, while the value of new business was at a similar level to the same month in 2016. The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 86.5% in the twelve months to February, unchanged compared with the same period to January.

New business in the POS consumer used car finance market fell 1% by volume in February, while the value of new business grew by 3%.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The point of sale consumer car finance market reported modest growth in new business volumes of 3% in the first two months of 2017. This is in line with the industry’s expectations of single-digit growth in the year overall.”

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships
New business	Feb  2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Feb  2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Feb  2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Value of advances (£m)	807	0	3,059	+3	18,177	+10
Number of cars	49,408	-3	173,010	-3	1,045,041	+4
Used cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,197	+3	3,342	+8	13,763	+10
Number of cars	108,374	-1	300,316	+4	1,262,627	+7

 

Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business	Feb  2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Feb  2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Feb  2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Number of cars	32,519	+9	101,077	-1	507,830	-1
Used cars
Number of cars	3,554	+7	16,505	+65	52,013	+34