Consumer car finance volumes stable in 2017

9 February 2018

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business volumes in the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market in 2017 were at a similar level to 2016, while the value of new business was up by 6% over the same period. New business in December 2017 fell 2% by value and 5% by volume compared with the same month in 2016.

The POS consumer new car finance market reported new business down 9% by value and 15% by volume in December compared with the same month in 2016. In 2017 as a whole, new business increased 2% by value and fell 7% by volume.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 88.1% in 2017, compared with 88.2% in 20161.

The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business growth in December of 8% by value and 3% by volume. In 2017 as a whole, new business grew 12% by value and 6% by volume.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:

“New business volumes in the POS consumer car finance market reached 2.3 million in 2017 – a similar level to 2016. The market expects broadly stable new business volumes in 2018.

“Trends in the new car finance market in the first half of 2018 are likely to be affected by the pattern of demand over the same period last year, when car purchases were brought forward into the first quarter prior to vehicle excise duty changes introduced in April.”

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships
New business	Dec 2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Dec 2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Dec 2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,102	-9	3,926	-2	18,784	+2
Number of cars	54,589	-15	198,222	-10	990,029	-7
Used cars
Value of advances (£m)	971	+8	3,633	+14	15,436	+12
Number of cars	81,488	+3	309,269	+8	1,357,216	+6
Total cars
Value of advances (£m)	2,074	-2	7,559	+5	34,220	+6
Number of cars	136,077	-5	507,491	0	2,347,245	0

Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business	Dec 2017	% change on prev. year	3 months to Dec 2017	% change on prev. year	12 months to Dec 2017	% change on prev. year
New cars
Number of cars	28,791	-11	106,283	-4	478,136	-2
Used cars
Number of cars	4,541	-26	14,684	-8	61,031	+20

Note to editors:

1. Revisions to the penetration rate reflect the introduction of new books to the time series.
2. In 2017, FLA members provided £128 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £96 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit, over a third of total new consumer credit written in the UK in 2017. £44 billion of it supported the purchase of new and used cars by businesses and households, including over 88% of private new car registrations.
3. For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.

Original Article