Car finance brokers talk to Richard Brown about what proved popular last year.
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Motor finance brokers are reporting a dominant 2011 for Vauxhall, and the Astra in particular, in terms of vehicles financed, with good showings for the Ford Focus and BMW 3 Series.
Auto Union Finance (AUF), Creditplus and Concept Car Credit all put the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus among their top three sellers for 2011.
Vauxhall specialists AUF put the Astra top by a significant margin, while BMW and Audi specialists MK Car Finance put the Astra second only to the 3 Series (diesel model).
According to Creditplus, the most popular used car it financed in 2011 was the Astra, accounting for 5.39% of all cars funded by the company last year. The 3 Series was just behind, making up 5.27% of cars funded, with the Focus third on 4.98%. Creditpluss top-three were the same for the second consecutive year.
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By GlobalDataAUFs number two car is also a Vauxhall, the Corsa, which ranks a long way ahead of the Focus in third, with the Vauxhall Zafira, then 3 Series, making up the top five.
"This wasnt solely to do with our partnerships within the Vauxhall franchise network," said AUF director Jarrod Bradley.
"Our independent used car introducers have contributed more than expected to this figure.
"I guess Vauxhall is halfway to succeeding in its master plan to dominate the market of mid-sized family cars"
Alternatively, Concept Car Credit put the Focus "way out in front of the rest" across 2011, according to owner and managing director Des Porter.
"The Astra was a clear second and the Corsa, Zafira and Vectra a distant third, fourth and fifth," Porter added.
"Taste is still fairly consistent," claims Creditplus, pointing out the same three models took the top spots for 2010, although the Astra and 3 Series came second and third, with the Focus first.
"It is clear to see the family favourites are still extremely popular," said Creditplus MD Shaun Armstrong.
"Many consumers dont even look past Ford and Vauxhall before making a choice about their next vehicle, which is hardly surprising as these cars have proved to be highly reliable."
Such reliability stretches back five years for Creditplus, which found the Focus and the Astra in its top three sellers for 2006, alongside the Land Rover Freelander.
Similarly, Concept Car Credit also had the Freelander among its top three in 2006, but alongside the Renault Laguna and Peugeot 307.
Being specialists in the brand, Concept also placed four Vauxhall models in its top 10 five years ago, although the Astra was the least popular of those and all four Vauxhalls were behind the Focus and Mondeo.
Alternatively, the difference over the past five years has been one of engine, if not model, says MK Car Finance managing director James Lockley, who maintains there is "definitely a continuous swing towards diesel".
If the Freelander and its like were more popular in 2006 than last year, is there still a market for more status-conscious motors?
AUFs Bradley offers some perspective. "The only prestige marque to feature within [the 2011] search criteria is the old, faithful 3 Series BMW, which of course is no longer deemed as prestige and is now accessible to the masses," Bradley said.
"The same criteria search across our prestige brand introducers during the course of 2011 shows the used Range Rover Sport as the outright winner."
"The higher-spec cars seem to be appearing more," added Lockley, "even if they are older or a bit more money."
Buying trend changes
For AUF, however, the noticeable difference of the past half-decade was one of finance, rather than models.
"There are so many buying trend changes within our business," said Bradley.
"As a good motor finance broker you have to react to the market and buying public."
To that end, the average balance financed in 2006 was in excess of £16,000, as opposed to 2011 where it was less than £10,000.
"Thats at least a few hours worth of discussion in itself," said Bradley.
"Have we consciously chosen to do this? Absolutely not. We have simply followed the market place and proactively pursued the activity in the point of sale finance market."
