New car finance market grows by more than 25% in Q2

Another month of double digit growth in the new car finance market capped a strong first half of the year for motor finance providers, according to Q2 figures from the Finance & Leasing Association, the trade body for the motor finance industry.

In Q2, the value of new car finance increased by 38% and the number of cars bought on finance by 27%, compared with Q2 2011. More than £2.2 billion was lent to consumers to fund the purchase of more than 155,000 cars.

FLA statistics show that Personal Contract Purchase remains the most popular product, accounting for 61% of all consumer new car finance agreements. Hire Purchase accounted for 26%, and leasing for 8% of the market. Personal loans from motor dealers accounted for the rest.

Over the last 12 months, 67.9% of new cars bought by consumers were purchased using finance sold in car dealerships.

Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association, commented: "2012 has been a great year so far for motor finance providers, with the total market up by 18% in Q2 and the new car finance market posting double digit growth every month this year.

"The used car finance market fell for the first time in 12 months in June, but was still up over the quarter and the year. The small dip can probably be explained by the range of new car incentives available which have narrowed the price difference between new and used cars on forecourts."