New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that point of sale (POS) consumer car finance new business volumes fell by 3% in May compared with the same month in the previous year. The value of new business fell by 1% over the same period.
New business in the POS consumer new car finance market fell 1% by value and 4% by volume in May, compared with the same month in 2018. The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS held steady at 91.0% in the twelve months to May 2019.
The value of POS consumer used car finance new business in May was a similar level to the same month in 2018, while new business volumes fell by 3%.
Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist, said:
“The POS consumer car finance market reported new business volumes of almost 1.1 million in the first five months of 2019, only 1% lower than in the same period in 2018.â€
“We continue to expect broadly stable new business volumes in 2019 as a whole. Consumer confidence about their own personal finances remains relatively strong, supported by a resilient labour market and low interest rate environment.â€
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| New business | May 2019 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to May 2019 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to May 2019 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,591 | -1 | 6,494 | -3 | 19,362 | 0 |
| Number of cars | 74,762 | -4 | 311,710 | -5 | 944,785 | -3 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,563 | 0 | 4,822 | +4 | 17,968 | +8 |
| Number of cars | 128,712 | -3 | 393,417 | +1 | 1,467,835 | +3 |
| Total cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 3,154 | -1 | 11,316 | 0 | 37,330 | +4 |
| Number of cars | 203,474 | -3 | 705,127 | -2 | 2,412,620 | +1 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| New business | May 2019 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to May 2019 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to May 2019 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 39,135 | -2 | 126,309 | -3 | 397,772 | -10 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 4,426 | +13 | 15,207 | -3 | 60,384 | +4 |
