Just over one-in-ten people who live in UK
cities research finance deals as a first step to buying a new car,
with nearly a quarter saving up cash instead.
Almost half, 45%, of 1,556 adults living in
British cities are researching or considering buying a car in the
next 12 months, with one-in-four looking at a new car and 69%
looking at a second-hand car, although only 15% of Londoners are
contemplating a car purchase.
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The work.shop.play. survey by CBS
Outdoor UK of the UK urban population found 11% of respondents will
research finance options as a first step to a car purchase. Saving
money to buy a car was the most popular purchase option with
24%.
The results are close to those of
a Populus poll published last week which reported 13% of
respondents would use dealer finance for a car purchase,
although that number jumps to roughly 21% of those who are soon to
buy a vehicle.
However, even this second figure is short of
the results from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA)
whereby
consumer car finance has grown in penetration every month for the
past 14 months from just over half to just over two-thirds of
all retail purchases.
Consumer confusion
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By GlobalDataSpeaking to Motor Finance, Richard
Lawton, marketing manager at ReallyGoodDomains.com, which runs
MainDealerOffers.co.uk, commissioner of the poll, explained two
reasons for the discrepancy.
First, consumers may still be unaware of the
availability of finance and would look to buy a second-hand car
from a local dealer, presuming that to be their most affordable
option or the least-confusing given the relatively large amount of
consumer protection paperwork surrounding finance.
Secondly, consumers may not understand what
dealer finance is as many customers think of monthly payments as a
cash transaction rather than a finance deal.
Pro-sumer profusion
The work.shop.play survey also found 45% of
those looking to buy a car are aiming to purchase a small family
car, with superminis the second most-popular choice on 16%.
The survey pointed to price, reliability and
fuel efficiency as being more important than brand in choice of
automobile, reflecting the views of Jamie Dixon, sales director of
web managers GForces, at
the recent FLA used car seminar, who spoke of ‘pro-sumers’,
consumers who are better informed and more cost-conscious thanks to
the internet.
While 7% of consumers will read a review of an
intended purchase in print, 13% will now read a review online as
their immediate point of action in a purchase, a higher proportion
than those who would visit a dealership (11%) or book a test drive
(5%) first.
Which may be good news for manufacturers of
small family cars with
positive press reports of reliability, including
online, as a second-hand car.
Further data from the CBS Outdoor UK
survey and a full interview with Richard Lawton will be published
in the
August issue of
Motor Finance
magazine.
richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com
