FinanceAcar, which says it is the world’s first car finance comparison website, has appointed a former Ford and Leaseplan manager to prepare for the next phase of its development.

Richard Bunn was hired because of his experience in dealer finance and contract hire and leasing.

“The future of vehicle finance for personal users and small businesses is online,” he said.

FinanceAcar enables website visitors to search by model sector and see a range of deals including leasing plans, personal contract hire and HP offers.

All are based on the amount they can afford each month.

After committing to a finance deal a customer’s order may be passed to a local dealer who receives a referral fee.

Other orders go to leasing companies and manufacturers.

Nadim Saad, FinanceAcar co-founder and business development director, said: “We believe we have a momentum going and Richard Bunn will assist it.

"Most private car users don’t understand PCPs and we want to bring private leasing to the masses.”

FinanceAcar, based in London’s Soho, was launched in January. It has a small team and most functions are outsourced.

Saad declined to disclose how many cars had found owners and users via the website.

He said that in January the website would be behind its 12-month business plan: “We had hoped the market for new cars would have picked up more quickly in 2010.”

Saad said FinanceAcar had been a Microsoft ‘startup of the day’ and Seedcamp, a European technology investor, voted it one of 10 winners out of 900 new companies.