In February, the car loan segment in Russia returned to growth for the first time in 4 months. Banks issued 75.6 thousand loans totaling 116 billion rubles, Kommersant reported.
The volume increased by 20% compared with January and by 38% year on year. The average loan amount reached a new high and exceeded 1.53 million rubles.
The main contribution came from loans for new cars. Their share in total issuance grew by more than 22% and approached 44 thousand deals.
The used-car segment added only 10% — to 32 thousand. At the same time, the average loan for new cars decreased by 1.2% — to 1.63 million rubles, while for used cars it increased by 7% — to 1.4 million rubles.
An additional factor was the reduction of the key rate to 15.5%. However, the total cost of credit remains high — 22–24% per annum.