Finance for new retail cars is above
pre-credit crisis levels, according to the Finance & Leasing
Association (FLA).
First-quarter 2012 consumer new car finance volumes were up 21%
on the same period in 2011, with used car finance volumes up 9%,
said FLA director general Stephen Sklaroff at the Association’s
Spring Drinks Reception, following its annual general meeting
yesterday.
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“Some of our markets are now writing more new
business than they were before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in
2008,” added Sklaroff.
“Broker-introduced asset finance and consumer
new car finance are now running ahead of the levels seen in early
2008, and commercial vehicle finance is not far behind.”
Sklaroff reiterated that the FLA now accounts
for
two-thirds of all private new car sales.
Grim satisfaction
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By GlobalDataCombined with similar, positive figures for
asset finance, Sklaroff said he took “grim satisfaction” in recent
Government recognition of FLA statistics and
initiatives, and the lobbying work of the Association,
particularly in regard to the proposed overhaul of consumer credit
legislation and
imposition of a system for deposit-taking markets on a
heavily-intermediated sector.
Such work would include the FLA’s involvement
with the National Loan Guarantee Fund and its role within the new
Consumer Credit Stakeholder Group to aid the replacement of work
previously conducted by the Financial Services Authority and Office
of Fair Trading.
The AGM and drinks were also used to welcome
new FLA chairman Philip Ross, general manager of Honda Finance
Europe, who has
taken over from Chris Sutton, MD of Black Horse. Ross was
previously the chairman of the motor finance division of the FLA, a
role now taken by Peter Minter, MD of Moneybarn.
A round table featuring the comments of Peter Minter
will be published in
May’s issue of Motor
Finance magazine.
richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com
