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Strong New Car Sales in February

Patricia Babalis avatar
Patricia Babalis
- 3 min read
Strong New Car Sales in February

New cars are as popular as ever in Australia with data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries this week showing car sales were up on 2015 at the end of last month.

In February a total of 96,443 new cars were sold which is a 6.7 per cent increase on last year’s figures. New South Wales and Victoria were the leaders of the pack with increases of up to double the national average.

While passenger cars were the top selling category it seems that the gas guzzling SUV is becoming ever more popular among buyers. SUV sales accounted for almost 40 per cent of total sales and had increased since last year.    

“The 36,865 new SUV sales represents a 15.1 per cent increase on SUV sales in February 2015,” said FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber.

It was also a good month for the trusty Toyota Corolla that saw the most amount of sales for a small passenger vehicle with 3,455 of the cars sold. The Corolla was followed by the Mazda3 (3,354), the Toyota Hilux (3,261) the Ford Ranger (2,655) and Hyundai i30 (2,461).

Toyota was the top selling brand in February 2016 with 16.8 per cent of the market. Toyota was followed by Mazda with 10.6 per cent, Hyundai with 8 per cent, Holden with 7.6 per cent and Mitsubishi with 6.9 per cent.

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If you’re looking to join the 2016 car boom then you may be looking at taking out a car loan to finance your purchase.

Keep in mind that not all car loans are the same. There are some important factors to consider when you are selecting a loan that will work for you beginning with whether you would like a fixed or variable loan.

Variable or Fixed

A variable car loan’s interest rates will fluctuate depending on the lender which will affect your repayment amount. This type of loan is harder to budget for as your repayments may vary from month to month although the interest rates are typically lower than with fixed loans so you could be grabbing a bargain.

A fixed car loan is a type of loan where the interest rate is fixed for the term of the loan, which means your repayments will always stay the same. This makes it easier to budget and know your long-term expenses.

Secured or Unsecured

With a secured car loan, generally the car you wish to purchase is used as an asset for security against the loan. This type of loan is considered a lower risk for lenders, due to the fact that if you default on your repayments they can repossess your vehicle and sell it to pay off your loan. For this reason you are generally offered lower interest rates.

Unsecured car loans do not require the car as security against the loan. Instead you need to prove that you can meet the repayments and you will generally be charged higher interest rates as you will be considered a riskier borrower.

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Disclaimer

This article is over two years old, last updated on March 3, 2016. While RateCity makes best efforts to update every important article regularly, the information in this piece may not be as relevant as it once was. Alternatively, please consider checking recent car loans articles.

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