Finance offers are tempting the public into car purchases, according to British Car Auctions (BCA), although there has been a year-on-year differentiation in ownership by geographical regions of the UK.

Data from this year’s BCA Used Car Market Report reported 14% of the 4,000 people surveyed were considering purchasing a new car in the next year, up from 11% in 2012.

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Tim Naylor, editor of the report, said: "In particular, low and 0% interest offers could be creating fresh demand for new cars, with 40% of motorists who responded to the BCA research saying that they were considering buying new rather than used for their next car."

Subvention

However, remarketing company CD Auction Group has warned such deals have drawn down the costs of a new car to the detriment of the second-hand market while car finance IT provider iVendi has said subvented manufacturer deals may be reaching their peak.

Similarly, Experian Automotive reported, in summer this year, that both PCP and HP finance packages had risen for two years, possibly changing public concepts of ownership, while Andy Gruber, director of Alphera Financial Services, told Motor Finance subvention was like a "drug" to brands but had established itself as the "new norm" in the US market.

And a survey of motoring preferences published in September demonstrated car finance was not a popular option when consumers considered purchasing a different car to save on ongoing expenses.

Multi-car

In other figures from the BCA report, there has been a 1% increase in two-car families year-on-year although the proportion of families owning a car has fallen from 77% in 2010 to 72% in 2013.

Two-car ownership in the North stands at 29%, up from 16% last year, and three-car ownership in the South West rose from 3% to 10%. However, the proportion of those in the South East not running a car has risen from 26% in 2012 to 30% this year.

In March this year car finance broker Car Loan 4U published data showing the popularity for using cars, including 36% who said they would still use their car even if public transport was evidently cheaper.

richard.brown@timetric.com