New year, new surge in car sales

However, January 2020's sales had an incredibly low floor, down about 15% from January 2019's sales, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) figures released today.

There are still positive signs in last month's results, after some deep falls last year when the coronavirus took hold from March through June.

In total, 79,666 new cars were sold last month, with SUVs and light commercial vehicles - utes, vans - combining to make up nearly three quarters of all new vehicles sold. 

In the market for a new car? The table below features car loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market.

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Lender	Car Loan	Interest Rate	Comparison Rate*	Monthly Repayment	Interest Type	Vehicle Type	Maximum Vehicle Age	Ongoing Fee	Upfront Fee	Total Repayment	Early Repayment	Instant Approval	Online Application	Tags	Features	Link	Compare	Promoted Product	Disclosure
loans.com.au	loans.com.au Variable Car Loan - New/Demo	5.94% p.a.	7.07% p.a.	$579	Variable	New		$8	$400	$34,749					Available for purchase of new/demo vehicle Get a personalised rate, won't impact your credit score Borrow from $10k to $150k, 3 to 7 yr loan term Unlimited additional repayments, flexible repayment options	More details	Compare	Promoted	Disclosure
Stratton Finance	Stratton Finance Car Loan (New) (5 Years)	5.67% p.a.	6.10% p.a.	$575	Fixed	New		$0	$350	$34,524					A leading Australian Finance Broker with proven experience you can trust We've assisted more than 150,000 customers access over $8 billion in finance! We are the experts at getting the keys in your hands	More details	Compare	Promoted	Disclosure
OurMoneyMarket	OurMoneyMarket Car Loan Secured Fixed (Exceptional Credit) ($5k-$100k) (New) (5 Years)	5.95% p.a.	5.95% p.a.	$579	Fixed	New		$0	$0	$34,757					No vehicle age limit No ongoing or early exit fees 1-7 years loan terms. Pay monthly, fortnightly, or weekly	More details	Compare	Promoted	Disclosure

Medium SUVs alone made up nearly one-fifth of all new vehicles sold, a class that includes the Nissan X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, and Mazda CX-5.

Four-wheel drive crew-cab ute sales made up nearly all of the light commercial marketshare, too, accounting for one-sixth of total vehicles sold.

This segment includes the popular Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, which regularly hold top spot for overall makes and models sold, as seen in the table below.

Light commercial vehicles sold for business purposes outnumbered private sales at a rate of nearly two-to-one, even as incentives such as the increased instant asset write-offs ended.

However, overall, private sales led the charge, up 25.4% on the month, with business sales down 1.3%.

Alternative fuel vehicles continued to lag behind petrol and diesel sales, with just 296 electric vehicles sold in January.

However, this marks a 146.7% increase on January 2020's results, aided by relatively cheap electric vehicles such as the MG ZS (+327.6% on the month) hitting the market.

FCAI chief Tony Weber pointed to a rebound, coinciding with COVID restrictions easing.

"During the past three months sales had increased by 12.4% compared to the corresponding period twelve months earlier," he said.

"The January sales numbers are indicative of positive consumer confidence in the domestic economy. With attractive interest rates and a range of other economic indicators encouraging consumption, we hope to see this trend in new vehicle purchasing continue through 2021."

Top Ten Selling Vehicles, January 2021