A senior executive of
a car importer in the UK claimed that
vehicle buyers could find it harder to fund
car purchase due to a tightening up of
lender criteria. Furthermore, he foresees a larger divide
between the young and old, who finance their
vehicle purchases in very different ways.
The son of the IM Group founder, Sir Bob Edmiston, reportedly
commented: As a distributor with our own
finance company we do not have problems but anyone who is using
their own
lending facility may find it much more difficult to finance a
car . I don’t think the effects of the current financial
situation will be felt immediately and
car sales this year will largely be as predicted by the SMMT,
but possibly in a few months and into early next year we could see
the effects.
The change is likely to be longer term, making an impact on the UK
market about the same time as the 08
number plate makes an appearance. The entry-level sector of the
market is expected to be the most affected.