New name and logo for Cardiff-based independent lender.

Cardiff-based independent motor finance lender Carlyle Finance has changed its name and logo to MotoNovo Finance.

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All Carlyle’s web pages have altered in appearance to reflect the new brand.

MotoNovo remains as a division of FirstRand Bank and will continue to offer both customer and dealer finance.

A spokesperson for MotoNovo said the move was a "complete rebrand", with staff and prominent dealerships being informed of the change in late January and early February.

One of the motivations cited for the name change was potential confusion with US private equity firm The Carlyle Group, although Mark Standish, CEO of MotoNovo, said the rebrand was "a new step that is vital to ensure that dealer finance remains vibrant and sustainable in a highly competitive and rapidly changing market".

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Carlyle went from a regional funder with a £2.5m annual deficit and 12,000 customers in the late 1990s, to 110,000 customers and a £650m balance sheet following its acquisition in 2006 by South African financer WesBank.

Standish declared the name change was "a new step" which would "ensure dealer finance remains vibrant" and, if not taken up, would risk repeating the 20% fall in non-captive dealer finance since 1999.

To this end, MotoNovo Finance will make dealer finance available online and in showrooms to compete with direct lenders in what Standish called "an industry-wide change" supported by other financers and their innovations.

A MotoNovo spokesperson said 60% of UK consumers go online every day with 90% of car buyers researching their purchases online.

For Standish, the industry change revolves around proving the value of dealer finance and customer retention. "The point of sale can no longer be just the showroom," he said.