Motor finance firms grew more pessimistic about their prospects in 2026, according to their trade body the Finance & Leasing Association.
Geraldine Kilkelly, director of research and chief economist at the FLA, said
“The lower inflation and interest rate environment should help growth prospects, but regulatory uncertainty and weak consumer confidence has led to a more cautious industry outlook.
“The FLA’s latest research suggests that the proportion of motor finance providers anticipating some increase in new business over the next year fell from 72% to 57% between Q3 and Q4 2025.
Killelly made her comments as the FLA reported consumer new car finance market reported new business up 1% by value and 5% by volume compared with the same month in 2024.
In the eleven months to November 2025, new business volumes in this market were 7% higher than in the same period in 2024.
The consumer used car finance market reported the value of new business 1% lower in November than in the same month in 2024, while new business volumes fell by 3%.
In the eleven months to November 2025, new business volumes in this market were 2% lower than in the same period in 2024.
Kilkelly said: “November saw a continuation of recent trends with growth in the new car finance market offset by a modest contraction in used car finance new business volumes.”
| Table 1: Cars bought on finance by consumers through the point of sale | ||||||
| New business | Nov 2025 |
% change on prev. year |
3 months to Nov 2025 |
% change on prev. year | 12 months to Nov 2025 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,454 | 1 | 5,860 | 9 | 19,017 | 8 |
| Number of cars | 51,476 | 5 | 206,940 | 10 | 667,392 | 7 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 1,568 | -1 | 5,324 | 3 | 21,741 | 3 |
| Number of cars | 101,111 | -3 | 340,443 | -1 | 1,402,409 | -2 |
| Total cars | ||||||
| Value of advances (£m) | 3,021 | 0 | 11,183 | 6 | 40,758 | 5 |
| Number of cars | 152,587 | 0 | 547,383 | 3 | 2,069,801 | 1 |
| Table 2: Cars bought on finance by businesses | ||||||
| New business | Nov 2025 |
% change on prev. year |
3 months to Nov 2025 |
% change on prev. year | 12 months to Nov 2025 | % change on prev. year |
| New cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 29,614 | -1 | 98,627 | 4 | 364,427 | 2 |
| Used cars | ||||||
| Number of cars | 4,954 | 24 | 14,374 | 17 | 51,428 | -10 |
