Michael Rochford of Motorcheck.ie says PCPs are useful for consumers because they allow many people to enter into flexible car financing with low monthly repayments. "Like any finance agreement, however, the consumer must ensure they fully understand the terms and conditions before they enter into the agreement," he notes in a statement today on car finance statistics.
He adds that the current investigation of PCPs by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is to be welcomed by the motor trade. "Anything that will help the consumer to fully understand PCP as a finance product will also help to strengthen the confidence of those customers who are suitable for this type of product. There is no doubt that PCP won’t suit everybody, but it’s actually a very good product for people with a predictable budget who want to change their car every three to five years."
The Motorcheck.ie statement reports that overall new car finance has increased by 139pc in three years to the end of 2016, and figures for 2017 to the end of June show that there is a 4% increase in cars being sold on finance for the first six months of this year.
"In 2014 a little under one third (32pc) of all new vehicles sold were financed. Three years later in 2016 that figure has risen to 51pc of all new vehicles sold are under finance. This has risen again slightly in the first six months of 2017 where we see that 54pc of vehicles sold have been financed."
