Personal Car Finance is a complete subsector of personal finance, with numerous different products available. These include a straightforward car loan, hire purchase, personal contract hire (car leasing) and Personal Contract Purchase. Therefore car finance includes but is not limited to vehicle leasing. These different types of car finance are possible because of the high residual value of cars and the second hand car market, which enables other forms of financing beyond pure unsecured loans.[1]
Car finance arose because the price of cars was out of the reach of individual purchasers without borrowing the money. The funding for personal car finance is provided either by a retail bank or a specialist car financing company. Some car manufacturers own their own car financing arms, such as Ford with the Ford Motor Credit Company and General Motors with its GMAC Financial Services arm, which has now been renamed and rebranded as Ally Financial.
The funding supplier may retain ownership of the car during the period of the contract for certain types of financing. This interim ownership by a third party and subsequent leasing to the acquirer is far more typical for business assets than private ones, with the option of vehicle leasing being the major exception for private consumers.
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