Car Finance: ING pull out of UK luxury car finance market

ING has pulled out of the UK luxury car finance market leaving a finance hole estimated at around £1.2 billion.

If you’re in the market for a high-end car, chances are you’ve sought out the services of a finance broker after the car dealer’s finance rates came as a bit of a shock. And if you have, there’s a very good chance you’ll have ended up with a cracking finance deal written by ING. But not any more.

ING has announced it is pulling out of the car finance market in the UK, leaving a gap in funding for high-end cars that is estimated to be over £1.2 billion. Which all seems a bit odd as the business seemed very profitable for ING.

ING has told its brokers that ‘… ING has taken the decision to discontinue asset finance activities in the UK and run off its portfolio’, which will leave high-end car finance brokers – some of whom wrote as much as 90 per cent of their deals with ING – with a big hole to fill.

That hole will be filled by other finance companies, with Investec and Aldermore already stating they will seek to support the broker finance market post-ING, and Hitachi Capital has said it will be increasing its capital allocation to the broker segment. Lots of other finance houses will also be pitching for the business.

The problem is that although there is little doubt other finance companies will move to fill the void, ING’s rates were some of the best in the business – the reason they were so popular with brokers and customers alike – and it seems unlikely other finance providers will be willing to match the deals ING offered.

It looks as though – at least in the short term – the cost of acquiring a luxury car will be on the rise.

By Cars UK