Used car sales on dealer finance up 21% in August but new car sales suffer

Sales of used cars using dealer finance rose by 21% in August when compared to the same month last year, according to the latest motor finance statistics from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).

However, sales of new cars to consumers and businesses using motor finance were down by 12% and 26% respectively. August is always a quiet month for the motor industry as motorists wait for the release of the new registration plate in September. Next month’s FLA figures will show us whether the market new car finance recovered in September.

Commenting the August figures, Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at FLA, said:

“Following the withdrawal of a range of incentives to ‘buy new’, consumers have returned to the used car market where lower prices are attractive and mean that buyers need to borrow less. However, despite strong growth this month it must be remembered that August 2009 was a weak month when the country was still in recession.

“While we expect sales of new cars, particularly prestige cars, to recover slightly towards the end of the year as consumers seek to beat the VAT increase, there is also the, as yet unknown, effect on consumer confidence of this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review.”

Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through dealerships	Aug-10	% change on prev. Year	3 months to Aug 2010	% change on prev. Year	12 months to Aug 2010	% change on prev. Year
New cars
Value of advances (£m)	267	-2	1,269	11	6,538	28
Number of cars	20,643	-12	93,744	-1	514,860	25
Used cars
Value of advances (£m)	513	24	1,530	11	5,814	5
Number of cars	55,304	21	163,709	7	619,766	-2
Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses	Aug-10	% change on prev. Year	3 months to Aug 2010	% change on prev. Year	12 months to Aug 2010	% change on prev. Year
New cars
Number of cars	21,719	-26	90,263	-11	358,339	0
Used cars
Number of cars	2,188	-33	11,340	2	48,334	-4