New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business volumes in the point of sale (POS) consumer new car finance market fell by 8% in August, compared with the same month in 2016, while the value of new business was up by 2% over the same period.
The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS held steady at 86.0% in the twelve months to August.
The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business in August up 8% by value and 2% by volume, compared with the same month last year.
Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:
“The August figures reported by the POS consumer new car finance market are in line with wider trends in private new car sales. These trends are not unexpected given the strength of the market in recent years and subdued consumer confidence about the general economic outlook.
“New business volumes in the POS consumer car finance market overall were stable in the first eight months of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016.â€
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships | ||||||
| New business | Aug 2017 |  % change on prev. year | 3 months to Aug 2017 |  % change on prev. year |  12 months to  Aug 2017 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 817 |  +2 | 3,561 |  +2 |  18,356 | +4 |
| Number of cars | 45,728 | Â -8 | 191,258 | Â -7 | Â 1,002,368 | -3 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,284 |  +8 | 3,855 |  +12 |  14,568 | +10 |
| Number of cars | 113,221 | Â +2 | 339,625 | Â +6 | Â 1,301,475 | +5 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| New business | Aug 2017 | % change on prev. year |  3 months to Aug 2017 |  % change on prev. year |  12 months to Aug 2017 |  % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of        cars | 30,146 | +3 |  132,405 |  +5 |  513,616 |  0 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 5,293 | +51 | Â 17,534 | Â +54 | Â 58,848 | Â +35 |
