Consumer car finance market increases by 1%

8th March 2019

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business in the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market increased 1% by volume and 6% by value in January, compared with the same month in 2018.

The POS consumer new car finance market reported new business volumes up by 4% in January, compared with the same month in 2018, while the value of new business increased by 8% over the same period.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 91.2%% in the twelve months to January 2019, unchanged on the same period to December 2018.

The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business volumes in January at a similar level to the same month in 2018, while the value of new business increased by 5% over the same period.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The POS consumer car finance market reported modest growth in new business volumes in January, with consumer confidence hit by continued Brexit-related uncertainty.”

“The market is likely to report new business volumes stable in 2019 as a whole if we see a pick-up in the economic outlook”.

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships
New business

Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

3 months to Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

12 months to Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

New cars
Value of advances (£m)

1,300

+8

3,846

+3

19,487

+3

Number of cars

64,670

+4

186,046

0

962,032

-2

Used cars
Value of advances (£m)

1,627

+5

4,039

+6

17,657

+11

Number of cars

134,709

0

327,766

+1

1,462,631

+6

Total cars
Value of advances (£m)

2,927

+6

7,885

+5

37,143

+7

Number of cars

199,379

+1

513,812

+1

2,424,663

+2

 

Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business

Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

3 months to Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

12 months to Jan 2019

% change on prev. year

New cars
Number of cars

26,752

+3

82,164

-2

397,636

-12

Used cars
Number of cars

6,872

+36

15,091

-3

61,686

+14