A record number of new vehicles were purchased with zero-percent financing in March, according to Edmunds.com.
Edmunds said that more than 22% of financed new cars were purchased with zero-percent finance deals. In March 2009 the total was just 13%. The prior high was 21% in July 2006.
Remarkably, 71% of new Toyotas financed in March had a zero-percent APR – nearly twice the previous Toyota record of 39% in August 2009.
The two brands with the next highest percentages of such deals were Mazda at 58% of all financed transactions and Mercury at 32%.
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“Credit must be starting to loosen if almost a quarter of all transactions financed in March were approved for zero-percent financing,” said Jessica Caldwell, Senior Analyst for Edmunds.com.
“Certainly it seems as if Toyota Motor Credit and other ‘captive’ finance companies may have lowered standards to help improve sales.”
