Consumer credit for new cars increases in the first quarter of the year
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Febelfin and its Retail Credit Committee (RCC), which represents 95% of the consumer credit market in Belgium, have analysed the consumer credit figures for the first quarter of 2025. In total, around 161,500 loans were granted in the first three months of this year, amounting to €2.7 billion. This represents an increase of almost 5% in the number of new loans compared to the same period in 2024. The number of consumer loans for new vehicles rose by 14%, for a total of 37,574 loan agreements.
In the first quarter of the year, consumer loans for the purchase of new vehicles were taken out for a total value of €880 million, an increase of almost 20% in amount. No fewer than 37,600 loan agreements were concluded during the first quarter of the year, an increase of more than 14% in number compared to the same period last year.
As regards new eco-friendly vehicles, just under 2,500 consumer loans were taken out for the purchase of a new “environmentally friendly” car, amounting to just over 70 million euros. This represents +6.6% of new vehicle production in the first quarter.
The production of consumer loans for the purchase of second-hand cars continued to increase in the first quarter of the year, albeit to a lesser extent. More than 35,000 loans were taken out for a total amount of more than EUR 600 million. This represents an increase of 1.5% in number and 4% in amount compared to the same period last year.
For non-ecological second-hand cars, just over 500 loans were granted in the first three months of 2025, for an amount of almost €13 million. This represents only 1.4% of the production of second-hand vehicles in terms of number.
We note that the second-hand market for environmentally friendly cars is not yet very large. This can be partly explained by the “young” fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles in Belgium.
Vehicles with CO2 emissions of up to 50 grams per kilometre until 2026
As regards credits for energy renovations, only 8,300 new loans were granted in the first quarter of the year, for a total amount of 212 million euros. This represents a decline of almost 50% compared to the same quarter in 2023, during the energy crisis.
The importance of energy renovation must remain a top priority in policy. New awareness-raising campaigns are urgently needed in order to achieve the European energy targets.
