Consumers are positive about motor finance, says Startline

Consumer perception of the motor finance industry is more positive than that of dealers.

Research from Startline Motor Finance shows that when asked to compare motor finance to other retail sectors in a traditional store-based setting, 39.6% of consumers placed motor finance a long way ahead or slightly ahead of other retail sectors compared to 26.3% of dealers.

Only 23.8% of consumers believed that motor finance was slightly or a long way behind other retail sectors compared to 31.6% of dealers – while 42.1% of dealers and 36.0% of consumers rated it around the same.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline, said: “The motor finance industry tends to give itself quite a hard time about its reputation but these figures show that consumers view it significantly better than how it views itself.

“Whether looking at store-based or online retail environments, it ranks very competitively against sectors that would generally be perceived as being much more customer-focussed.

“While there is clearly still work to do to drive forward standards still further, this is very much welcome news for our sector.”

The research was carried out by APD Global for Startline’s “The Future of Used Car Finance” report and surveyed 57 dealer businesses including franchise groups, independents, car supermarkets and online specialist brokers.

The consumer research covered 300 people who were planning to buy a used car.

Burgess concluded: “It’s because of the media coverage around this issue that motor finance tends to be wary of how it is perceived but, conversely, maybe the regulation which is now being enforced is helping to create a better environment for consumers.”