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 outlookâ€.
| 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 |
