21 March 2018
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business in the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market increased 7% by volume and 13% by value in January, compared with the same month in 2017.
New business volumes in the POS consumer new car finance market fell by 4% compared with January 2017, while the value of new business increased by 4% over the same period.
The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 88.5% in the twelve months to January, compared with 88.2% in the twelve months to December 2017.
The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business in January up 13% by volume and 20% by value, compared with the same month in 2017.
Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:
“New business trends in the POS consumer car finance market continued in a similar vein to 2017. In the twelve months to January, overall new business volumes in this market held steady at almost 2.4 million.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| New business | Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,167 | +4 | 3,686 | -1 | 18,840 | +1 | 
| Number of cars | 61,204 | -4 | 186,674 | -9 | 988,025 | -7 | 
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,544 | +20 | 3,785 | +15 | 15,697 | +12 | 
| Number of cars | 131,870 | +13 | 320,855 | +10 | 1,372,597 | +7 | 
| Total cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 2,711 | +13 | 7,471 | +6 | 34,537 | +6 | 
| Number of cars | 193,074 | +7 | 507,529 | +2 | 2,360,622 | 0 | 
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| New business | Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Jan 2018 | % change on prev. year | 
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 27,710 | -13 | 88,945 | -13 | 473,970 | -3 | 
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 5,636 | -31 | 15,319 | -21 | 58,472 | +4 | 
Note to editors:
- 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, including over 88% of private new car registrations.
- For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.