Consumer car finance new business volumes fell by 12% in December 2020

Thursday, 11 February 2021 11:40

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the consumer car finance market reported a fall in new business volumes of 12% in December 2020 compared with the same month in 2019. In 2020 as a whole, new business volumes in this market were 21% lower than in 2019. The consumer new car finance market reported a fall in new business volumes of 18% in December compared with the same month in 2019. In 2020, new business volumes in this market...Request free trial

The consumer new car finance market reported a fall in new business volumes of 18% in December compared with the same month in 2019. In 2020, new business volumes in this market fell by 25% compared with 2019. The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members in the twelve months to December 2020 was 93.2%, up from 91.7% in 2019.

The consumer used car finance market reported a fall in new business volumes of 8% in December compared with the same month in 2019. In 2020, new business volumes in this market fell by 18% compared with 2019.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:

“The lifting of the second national lockdown in England in December contributed to an easing in the rate of contraction in new business in both the consumer new and used car finance market. Despite the restrictions introduced throughout last year as a result of the pandemic, the consumer car finance market provided finance for over 1.9 million cars in 2020 as a whole.

“The vaccine rollout in the UK has improved the outlook for the UK economy in the second half of 2021. Almost two-thirds of motor finance respondents to the FLA’s Q1 2021 Industry Outlook Survey expected some growth in new business over the next year if economic conditions improve.”

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through the point of sale
New business	Dec 2020	% change on prev. year	3 months to Dec 2020	% change on prev. year	12 months to Dec 2020	% change on prev. year
New cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,104	-16	3,531	-14	15,496	-21
Number of cars	45,815	-18	152,951	-17	696,737	-25
Used cars
Value of advances (£m)	1,127	-5	3,873	-7	16,116	-13
Number of cars	84,193	-8	293,474	-12	1,237,859	-18
Total cars
Value of advances (£m)	2,232	-11	7,404	-11	31,611	-17
Number of cars	130,008	-12	446,425	-14	1,934,596	-21


Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses
New business	Dec 2020	% change on prev. year	3 months to Dec 2020	% change on prev. year	12 months to Dec 2020	% change on prev. year
New cars
Number of cars	25,079	-20	78,877	-19	264,052	-39
Used cars
Number of cars	4,139	38	14,799	34	60,108	9

Note to editors:

Consumer motor finance reported in these figures refers to finance obtained through the point of sale.
In 2020, FLA members provided £113 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £86 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit, over a third of total new consumer credit written in the UK in 2020. £39 billion of it supported the purchase of new and used cars, including over 93% of private new car registrations.
FLA Q1 2021 Industry Outlook Survey Result may be found here.
For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.

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