According to car finance news reports, annual car sales fell despite growing consecutively over the six months running up to December. December saw car sales shoot up by 39 per cent, with 151,000 vehicles being sold.

2009 saw 2 million cars sold in the UK, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Private buying was aided by the scrappage scheme and the VAT holiday. However, even despite the positives, credit restrictions have made vehicle finance harder to come by.

Paul Everett, the chief executive of the SMMT, was reported as commenting: We expect things to be OK for the first four or five months of the year, and then to get tough again.