The number of new cars sold on finance fell 13% year-on-year in May to 69,399, according to the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).
This fall was slightly greater than the 8.5% fall total new car sales witnessed in the same month.
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For the year to May, however, finance figures remained relatively stable – falling just 1% by volume, year-on-year, and growing 5% by value.
As a result, the percentage of new car sales financed by FLA members remained steady at 86.2% for the twelve months to May – the same figure as for the twelve months to April
The total value of May’s finance was £1,365m, a fall of 1% compared to the same period in 2016.
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By GlobalDataUsed car finance continued to grow. In May, the number of used cars bought on finance grew 7% compared to May 2016, to 117,242.
By value, used car finance jumped 12% to £1,333m over the same period.
For the 12 months to May, the number of used cars bought on finance grew 6% to 1,281,220, while the total value of the advances over the period grew 10% to £14,150m.
Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said:
“Growth in the consumer car finance market has moderated in the first five months of 2017, with overall new business volumes flat compared with the same period last year.
“This is in contrast with average new business growth of 13% annually over the last five years.”
