Vauxhall Finance's new national marketing manager Andy Savage is planning to arm retailers with the tools to compete against direct lenders and high street operators for finance business.

“We will be working with Vauxhall to develop new ideas to make purchasing a vehicle on finance more appealing to acustomers,” he said.

“Retailers will be able to sell more cars with the new finance products, which will also give them an additional income source.”

Mr Savage, previously a Vauxhall Finance key account manager, believed the uncertainty caused by the new car pricing issue had forced manufacturers to alter their advertising plans to focus on “value pricing rather than finance”.

He said: “Customers receive a lot of mail from direct lenders promoting their APR rates – if they don't see competing ads from manufacturers, they may go with the direct lender.

“We will be promoting the one-stop shop service offered by retailers – there is no need for consumers to go elsewhere.” Mr Savage suggested Vauxhall Finance might take another look at personal leasing schemes, which had received a poor response since launch in the mid-Nineties.

“No-one has done major volumes,” he said. “The market may not have been ready for personal leasing, or it may have needed better marketing.

“It may be time to push it now,” he added.