Consumer new car finance volumes rise by 3% in January

Latest figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business in the point of sale (POS) consumer new car finance market grew 9% by value and 3% by volume in January, compared with 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 January, compared with 86.6% in the twelve months to December 2016. The POS consumer used car finance market also reported new business growth in January of 15% by value and 9% by volume.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The performance of the point of sale consumer car finance market in January was in line with the industry’s expectations for 2017 overall, with modest growth in new car finance volumes and stronger single-digit growth in used car finance volumes.”

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships
New business	Jan  2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Jan  2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Jan  2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,085	+9	3,606	+8	18,175	+11
Number of cars	61,650	+3	198,815	+1	1,046,811	+6
Used cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,261	+15	3,215	+11	13,727	+12
Number of cars	114,506	+9	287,166	+6	1,263,339	+9

 

Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business	Jan  2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Jan  2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Jan  2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Number of cars	33,967	+1	106,947	+1	505,270	-1
Used cars
Number of cars	7,468	+195	17,547	+87	51,781	+35