POS car market parked in March

New business in the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market fell one per cent by volume in March, compared with the same month in 2018.

The corresponding value of new business was at a similar level to March 2018.

The Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) has found that n POS consumer new car finance market reported a fall in new business in March of three per cent by value and five per cent by volume, compared with the same month in 2018.

The percentage of private new car sales financed by FLA members through the POS was 90.9% in the 12 months to March, down from 91.1% in the same period to February.

The POS consumer used car finance market reported new business up nine per cent by value in March, while volumes grew by four per cent, compared with the same month in 2018.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said, ‘The POS consumer car finance market reported new business volumes stable in the first quarter of 2019, with a fall of two per cent in the new car finance market offset by growth of two per cent in the used car finance market.

‘The quarter one 2019 performance reflects our expectations for the year as a whole, with annual new business volumes of around 2.4 million, a similar level to 2018.’