Motor finance brokers are reporting a dominant
2011 for Vauxhall and the Astra in particular, in terms of vehicles
financed, with good showings for the Ford Focus and BMW 3
Series.
Auto Union Finance (AUF), Creditplus and
Concept Car Credit all put the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus among
their top three sellers for 2011. Vauxhall specialists AUF put the
Astra top by a significant margin while BMW and Audi specialists MK
Car Finance put the Astra second only to the 3 Series (diesel
model).
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The findings are similar to
those of subprime lenders surveyed by Motor Finance in
September 2011, though the Focus appeared to push the Astra
harder for top spot.
According to Creditplus, the most popular used
car sold in 2011 was the Astra, accounting for 5.39% of all cars
funded by the company last year.
The BMW 3 Series was just behind, making up
5.27% of cars funded, with the Ford Focus third on 4.98%, and the
top three the same for the second year running.
Consistent taste
“Taste is still fairly consistent,” claimed
Creditplus, pointing out that the same three models took the top
spots for 2010, though the Astra and 3 Series came second and
third, with the Focus first.
Alternatively, Concept Car Credit put the Ford
Focus “way out in front of the rest” across 2011, according to
owner and MD Des Porter.
“Vauxhalls take up the next four places with
the Astra a clear second and the Corsa, Zafira and Vectra a distant
third, fourth and fifth,” added Porter.
It’s a similar picture at AUF where the Corsa
comes second, a long way ahead of the Focus in third, with the
Vauxhall Zafira, then 3 Series, making up the top five.
Halfway to dominance
“This wasn’t solely to do with our
partnerships within the Vauxhall franchise network,” said Jarrod
Bradley, director of AUF.
“Our independent used car introducers have
contributed more than expected to this figure. I guess Vauxhall is
halfway to succeeding in its master plan to dominate the market of
mid-sized family cars”
Several brokers asked by Motor Finance
reported a variety of changing trends over the last five years,
including a resurgence of prestige marques and growth in diesel
models.
Managing director James Lockley said MK Car
Finance was “definitely seeing a continuous swing towards diesel,
slow but sure and the higher spec cars seem to be appearing more,
even if they are older or a bit more money.”
An extended round-up of car finance
brokers’ findings and opinions will be published in
February’s issue of
Motor Finance
magazine.
richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com
