Trends in the car lending market have gone in different directions

Against the backdrop of the Central Bank maintaining the key rate, loans for new cars began to become cheaper, in contrast to loans for used ones. At the same time, buyers of the latter prefer to increase the terms of loans, but not spend money on a down payment.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the data from a study of the IT platform for selling cars on credit “eCredit”, prepared with the participation of “Avtostat”, on trends in car lending at the beginning of the year.

According to analysts, the term of car loans for used cars has increased, reaching 76 months at the end of March, while for new cars the opposite trend was observed – a reduction in the term to 68 months. “In new cars, the average term was influenced by special programs with subsidized rates, which are valid for shorter periods – two to five years,” explained eCredit.

The average rate in the segment of loans for new cars decreased from 19% to 16% while maintaining the key rate of the Central Bank, while for used cars it fluctuates around 20% without significant movements. The trend for new cars is due to growing competition between manufacturers who have introduced new credit programs with reduced rates, the study authors explain.

“The reduction in rates can be associated with the increased popularity among clients of interest rate discounting services and special subsidized programs within certain car brands,” confirms Sergei Litvinenko, head of the Alfa Bank’s car lending development directorate. “We expect the trend to reduce the weighted average rate to continue as new Chinese brands appear on the market and special sales conditions are launched for them,” adds VTB Vice President Evgeny Dyachkin.

At the same time, the down payment on loans for new cars averaged 39% in March, while for used cars it was 24%. Ingosstrakh Bank clarifies that the average down payment has decreased in both categories. In relation to new cars, this may be caused by “the desire of dealers to increase the loan amount and, as a consequence, the sales margin,” the bank explains. “For new cars, the down payment is reduced as a percentage, but does not change in money. This is due to the fact that the average cost of cars continued to grow,” eCredit clarifies.

In the market as a whole, according to Frank RG, in March the volume of car loans for new cars increased by 34%, and for used cars by 31%. However, bankers are talking about a possible change in the trend. “The market for new cars has narrowed due to a decrease in the flow of parallel imports, and therefore the dynamics are less,” notes Andrey Eremenko, head of the car lending department of Ingosstrakh Bank. “We expect that the dynamics of used cars in the bank will be higher than in the segment of new cars.”

Sergei Litvinenko clarifies that in the first quarter the volume of lending for used cars continued to grow, but the share of transactions with new cars is still larger. VTB confirms that “the main demand of borrowers is still focused on the used car market,” although against the backdrop of “the filling of the car market with new brands, the share of new vehicles is growing.” At the end of March, the bank noted, in the structure of issuances, used cars accounted for 69% versus 74% at the beginning of the year.

In April, the authors of the study expect “a decline in the excitement in the car market, which was associated with expectations of rising prices.” “The market will cool down a little, most likely we will see a decrease in the volume of loans issued compared to March,” notes eCredit. “We will probably see another slight decrease in the average rate on loans for new cars due to subsidies.”

Ksenia Dementieva, Olga Nikitina