Consumer car finance market recovers in April

New business in the point of sale consumer new car finance market grew 31% by value and 27% by volume in April, compared with the same month in 2017, the latest figures from the Finance & Leasing Association have revealed.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 89.7% during the 12 months to April 2018. The POS consumer used car finance market also reported new business growth in April of 28% by value and 20% by volume.

Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, commented: “These figures partly reflect a relatively subdued April last year. Trends in the new car finance market in 2018 so far have been affected by the pattern of demand for private new cars over the same period last year, when car purchases were brought forward into the first quarter prior to vehicle excise duty changes in April.

“The POS consumer car finance market overall reported new business volumes up in the first four months of 2018 by 4% compared with the same period in 2017, in line with expectations of modest single-digit growth in 2018 as a whole.”