Report: New car ownership is in decline

New car ownership is in decline as consumers continue to turn their back on hire purchase in favour of personal leasing, according to a report from new car marketplace ContractHireAndLeasing.com.

In its Personal Leasing Report 2017: Growth in an uncertain market market, the marketplace found that the value of hire purchase agreements fell 9.8% in the 12 months to November 2017.

Personal contract hire (PCH), commonly referred to as leasing, grew 12.7% over the same period meaning it overtook hire purchase (HP) as the second-most popular form of new car finance with a market share of 9.2% in 2017*. HP’s market share declined to 8%.

Personal contract purchase (PCP) remained the leading consumer new car funding method at the point of sale.
Other findings in the report included:

• One-month advance rentals are on the increase. Reflecting consumers’ increasing preference for a fixed monthly payment model of car usership, rather than ownership.
• Who leases? The typical profile of someone looking to lease a new car is a 35-44-year-old male, from London, searching for a Volkswagen Golf on an iPhone.
• Anti-diesel rhetoric has not impacted the personal leasing sector. Diesel car enquiries increased by 5% in 2017 and accounted for 55% of all enquiries on ContractHireAndLeasing.com.
• The top ten leasing cities, and the most enquired about new cars in 2017.