The car finance market has grown steadily in Europe in the past five years, with motor financiers advancing €87bn (£59.1bn) in new loans at the point of sale in 2004, compared to just €68bn (£46.2bn) in 1999.

This was due to growth in Europe's largest motor finance markets, Germany and the UK, which made up 40.2% and 20.5% of the western European motor finance market in 2004 respectively.