Finance & Leasing Association10 October 2013
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show new business volumes in the consumer new car market were up 20% in August, and used car finance volumes 17% higher than the same month in the previous year. August was a particularly strong month for personal contract purchase (PCP) agreements, which grew 54% by value to £432 million in the new car finance market, and 46% to £198 million in the used car finance market. By contrast, hire purchase (HP) grew by 1% in the new car market to £124 million and by 21% to £485 million in the used car market. FLA members’ penetration of the private new car registrations market was 74.5%, up from 74.1% in July.
Commenting, Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at the FLA said: “The increase in the proportion of sales using products like personal contact purchase (PCP) shows that many customers are sensibly choosing to finance their purchases in a way which is both affordable and flexible.Credit options like PCP are proving popular as customers benefit from fixed monthly repayments and can decide at the end of the deal if they wish to own or return the car.
“These finance deals are secured against the car itself which means greater protection for consumers and lenders.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| Aug-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Aug 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Aug 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 606 | +31 | 2,504 | +31 | 11,178 | +33 |
| Number of cars | 41,029 | +20 | 166,800 | +23 | 761,497 | +27 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 755 | +21 | 2,228 | +23 | 8,098 | +15 |
| Number of cars | 79,215 | +17 | 233,562 | +18 | 856,809 | +11 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| Aug-13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Aug 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Aug 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 26,009 | +12 | 97,449 | +6 | 396,421 | 0 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 2,397 | -30 | 13,948 | -31 | 63,974 | +11 |
Note to editors:
- 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.
