Finance & Leasing Association9 July 2013
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that May 2013 was the seventeenth consecutive month of double-digit growth in the consumer new car finance market. The number of new cars bought on finance through dealerships grew by 27% compared with May 2012, and FLA members’ penetration of the private new car registrations market increased to 73.5%.
Commenting, Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at the FLA, said: “Today’s figures show the continued importance of credit for car buyers and the motor market. As we are only nine months away from the start of the new regulatory regime for consumer credit, it is vital that the industry plans ahead.
“Lenders, dealers and brokers should make sure that the Office of Fair Trading holds the correct details for their company, and that their credit licences include all the categories of businesses they will need after April 2014, when the transition to the new regime starts.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| May-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to May 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to May 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 955 | +30 | 3,827 | +30 | 10,582 | +34 |
| Number of cars | 64,275 | +27 | 257,433 | +25 | 730,577 | +28 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 756 | +18 | 2,201 | +15 | 7,685 | +10 |
| Number of cars | 80,366 | +15 | 234,904 | +12 | 821,610 | +8 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| May-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to May 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to May 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 34,579 | -18 | 114,066 | -8 | 389,666 | -3 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 3,626 | -40 | -12,463 | -9 | 69,916 | +45 |
Note to editors
- The fall in the number of new cars bought on finance by businesses is attributable in part to a particularly strong performance by this market in May 2012.
- In 2012 FLA members provided £76.6 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £55.1 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit, 30% of all unsecured lending in the UK. And £23.3 billion of it supported the purchase of new and used cars, including more than 70% of private new car registrations.
