10:02 am, July 13, 2022
Startline Motor Finance is celebrating a 30 per cent year-on-year increase in new business during the first half of 2022.
CEO Paul Burgess said it showed how the used car market was staying relatively buoyant despite mounting pressures on the overall economy.
‘There has been much discussion lately about the used car market probably having peaked following a couple of years when volumes and values have risen at a rate that it is safe to describe as unprecedented.
‘However, while it might have passed its high, there are not yet any real signs of a marked decline in the face of some pretty strong negative forces, such as the cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine, the after-effects of the pandemic and more.’
He added that the wide range of economic factors made it difficult to predict what would happen to the used car market in the second half of the year, although no sudden shock was expected.
‘One of the core truths about the used car market is that people will buy used cars when the economy is good, and also when it is bad.
‘They continue to need personal transport in all conditions, and only in the very worst does the sector really tend to suffer,’ he said.
‘The factors that have helped make sales so buoyant in recent times, such as consistent consumer demand and low stock supply, look set to ease only by degrees, and we are pretty confident that we will enjoy a strong second half.
‘Certainly, the growth we have seen shows there is increasing demand for our motor finance proposition, which provides support for car buyers with less-standard credit profiles while offering them a competitive proposition.
‘It is an approach that could further grow in appeal for consumers and dealers in the current economic situation.’
