Capgemini Reports 46% of New Car Buyers Want to Purchase Their Vehicle Online

LONDON, March 2, 2011 - Recent research suggests that 46% of new car buyers want to
buy their car online and have it delivered to their door. Car buyers have
expressed a strong desire for a full end to end experience of comparing,
shopping, arranging car finance (www.financeacar.co.uk/), completing
the transaction and getting the car delivered the same as they would for
other e-commerce purchases.

Whilst a car is a big purchase, the online risks are
substantially reduced for new cars by the combined effects of manufacturer
warranties and distance selling regulations that provide between 7 - 14 days
'cooling off' during which a car can be returned. Based on this, some experts
suggest that car buying over the internet could reach up to 400,000 cars
(GBP5 billion) over the next 10 years.

Figures from a recent Autotrader survey showed that 33% of
5,000 people interviewed are ready to buy cars and vans online whilst
Capgemini's survey of 8,000 consumers "Cars Online 10/11" found that 46% of
people were likely or very likely to buy their new car using an end to end
online car buying process. Whilst research suggests there is a demand, what
are the underlying needs that are pushing online car buying?

Whilst Capgemini's research suggests the key drivers for
online buying are convenience and price, it may come as no surprise that most
British car buyers don't want to haggle. According to research by Sainsbury
Finance, two thirds of car shoppers planning to buy a car in the lead up to
March 2011 won't negotiate hard and will most likely settle for the list
price. In this context, the appeal of buying on the Web is that the online
marketplace enables a consumer to anonymously compare and find the best price
for a new car without having to negotiate. This tendency to use the Web as a
buffer is further reinforced by the fact that test driving the vehicle is not
a high priority for many online shoppers. They seem more comfortable with
independent reviews than they are taking a test drive and Ford Retail
confirmed this when they recently stated that 37% of Internet shoppers are
prepared to buy cars and vans without test drives.

Interestingly, offline buying tendencies are actually more
conducive to online car shopping. As much as 80% of all new cars are bought
with finance with lenders funding more than 50% of all cars sold by dealers
(c. GBP12 billion) according to the Finance and Leasing Association.
Therefore, car buyers should actually shop for the best deal based on a
monthly price and not the list price because a low list price doesn't always
equate to a low monthly price. Indeed, often it can be the opposite. A
shopper may find a car with a high list price being sold for a low monthly
price.

Mark Peatey, Director at Finance A Car (
www.FinanceAcar.co.uk), a UK website that provides an end to end
solution for new car buyers, stated that, "Whilst online car buying is common
in other countries such as France, until recently it has not been easy in the
UK. Despite the fact that most people want to know the monthly price, online
car price comparison has historically been based on the list price which has
little to no variation across dealers. However, because there is the
potential for a big variation in monthly prices, UK car shoppers are now
using the Web to get the most competitive car and finance packages and are
saving as much as 50% on their monthly payments by comparing the prices for
hire purchase, car leasing (www.financeacar.co.uk/) and loans."

About FinanceAcar.co.uk

Finance A Car (www.FinanceAcar.co.uk) is a new car and finance
specialist. It is the UK's first car finance marketplace and it enables car
buyers to choose their car, compare finance products from multiple sources,
apply for finance, buy the car and have it delivered. Users can select their
car by monthly budget and compare more than 1,000,000 prices for car leasing,
hire purchase and car loans from top UK lenders for more than 6,000 new
vehicles.

    Media contact:

    Mark Peatey
    0800-0431340

Mark Peatey, 0800-0431340, Press at FinanceAcar.co.uk