Continued growth in used car finance in November

Dealers provided finance for more than 50,000 used cars in November 2010, as the car market continues to return to more ‘normal’ buying behaviour. This is the message from the Finance & Leasing Association, which published its latest motor finance data today.

The rise in used car finance comes in the same month as an 11 percent fall in the number of new cars being bought by individuals on finance provided through dealerships compared with November 2009. But falling new car sales meant that the proportion of new cars bought using dealer finance over the last 12 months rose to 51.5%.

Commenting on November’s motor finance figures, Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance, said: “What our latest figures show is that the car market, following the previous Government’s scrappage scheme, is returning to business as usual. Savvy consumers are seeking used cars from dealerships to get value for money.

“And while the new car market has seen a fall in the last quarter, finance sold in showrooms now accounts for more than half of private new car sales. We expect this proportion to continue to rise as the last few months of scrappage-influenced sales drop out of our 12 month average.”