Car buyers purchasing new cars during November purchase some 82% more vehicles using car finance than the same period a year earlier. The new statistics were released by the Finance and Leasing Association. The surge in demand was thought to be down to the urgency of beating the rise in VAT.

New car buyers took out motor finance deals worth over half a billion pounds during the course of November. In the 12 months running up to November some 45.8% of private new car sales were financed through dealerships.

The FLA head of research and chief economist, Geraldine Kilkelly, reportedly commented: Today’s figures are encouraging, especially as there was also growth in the used car market. Buying a new car is a sign of consumer confidence, as replacing an older car is usually a discretionary, rather than an essential purchase. But the rise of 82% in November needs to be treated with some caution because it compares last November with November 2008, which was the height of the slump in business volumes. In November 2008 22,402 new cars were bought by consumers using dealer finance, which was 40% down on November 2007. We expect December’s new car finance figures also to show strong growth as consumers scramble to beat the VAT increase.