The consumer finance market increased by 2% year-on-year in volume and 6% year-on-year by value in February 2019, new figures from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) have found.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members at the point of sale (POS) was 91.1% in the 12 months to February – 0.1 percentage points lower than in the same period to January 2019.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Access deeper industry intelligence

Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.

Find out more

The used car finance market reported a 2% volume increase in new business in February, with value also increasing by 7%.

“The POS consumer car finance market reported further modest new business volumes growth in February, as consumer confidence remained subdued amid uncertainty about the outlook for the economy,” said Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA.

“We continue to expect new business volumes in 2019 overall to be at a similar level to 2018 if there is a reduction in Brexit-related uncertainty.”

 

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships
New business
Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
3 months to Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
12 months to Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
New cars
Value of advances (£m) 946 +4 3,381 +4 19,529 +3
Number of cars 48,642 +1 166,751 0 962,476 -2
Used cars
Value of advances (£m) 1,509 +7 4,196 +6 17,762 +11
Number of cars 123,934 +2 343,550 +2 1,464,817 +5
Total cars
Value of advances (£m) 2,455 +6 7,577 +6 37,291 +6
Number of cars 172,576 +2 510,301 +1 2,427,293 +2

 

Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business
Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
3 months to Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
12 months to Feb 2019
% change on prev. year
New cars
Number of cars 20,252 -21 73,604 -6 392,372 -12
Used cars
Number of cars 6,899 +118 16,831 +45 65,416 +21