2:56 pm, December 7, 2020
New business volumes in the consumer car finance market fell by three per cent in October 2020 against the same month in 2019, latest figures show.
In addition, the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) said today (Dec 7) that in the 10 months to October 2020, new business volumes were 20 per cent lower than in the same period in 2019.
It blamed recent measures brought in to tackle rising cases of coronavirus for ‘softening’ demand.
New business volumes in the consumer new car finance market fell by four per cent in October 2020 versus the same month in 2019.
In the 10 months to October 2020, new business volumes in this market fell by 25 per cent against the same period in 2019.
The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members in the 12 months to October 2020 went up to 94.1 per cent from 91.7 per cent during the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile, new business volumes in the consumer used car finance market fell by two per cent in October 2020 versus October 2019 – the first drop since this May.
And during the 10 months to October 2020, new business volumes in this market fell by 17 per cent against the 10 months to October 2019.
Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: ‘The introduction of new restrictions during October to curb the growth in coronavirus cases has led to a softening in demand for consumer car finance.
‘The fall in the used car finance market in October was the first since May of this year.’
But she added: ‘The economic outlook has improved following the promised rollout of a vaccine before Christmas.
‘Based on this more positive outlook, our latest research suggests that consumer car finance new business by value is likely to grow by 18 per cent in 2021, following a contraction of 20 per cent in 2020 as a whole.’
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