More people bought cars using dealer Car Finance during the first six months of this year than buying the car out-right.

The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has announced that 264,377 people used dealer forecourt finance to purchase their new car. The figures show a rise of 26 per cent in the first half of 2010.

Paul Harrison, head of motor finance at the FLA stated that; "The first half of 2010 has been very positive for dealer finance. We do expect consumer demand to reduce in the next few months but November and December is likely to see a pickup in demand as customers rush to buy new cars before the increase in VAT to 20 per cent affects prices,"