The UK has seen a surge in used cars sold on finance over the past year.
According to the latest figures from the Finance & Leasing Association the number of used cars sold on dealer finance in the 12 months to November rose 7% to 1,454,568 while their value surged 13% to £17.5bn.
The number of new cars sold by dealers on finance fell by 2% in November, compared with the same month in 2017.
The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 91.2% in the twelve months to November.
The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business in November up 5% by value, while volumes remained at a similar level to the same month in 2017.
Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: “The POS consumer car finance market is on course for single-digit new business volumes growth in 2018 as a whole, despite the quieter performance of the market in November.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| New business | Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,411 | 0 | 5,418 | -6 | 19,378 | +2 |
| Number of cars | 67,936 | -2 | 263,085 | -9 | 961,990 | -3 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,350 | +5 | 4,400 | +9 | 17,463 | +13 |
| Number of cars | 108,012 | 0 | 355,868 | +4 | 1,454,568 | +7 |
| Total cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 2,761 | +2 | 9,818 | 0 | 36,841 | +7 |
| Number of cars | 175,948 | -1 | 618,953 | -2 | 2,416,558 | +3 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| New business | Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Nov 2018 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 28,820 | -13 | 89,801 | -23 | 412,982 | -13 |