GM Holden Hoping 0.5% Financing Will Draw Interest

With GM Holden eating Toyota’s dust in the annual Australian sales race, the auto maker is offering 0.5% financing for up to 36 months on a range of its vehicles, but only for one week.

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate is 3.5%, and interest rates on new-car purchases usually range between 9.0% and 15.0%.

In a market up 9.9% year-to-date, GM Holden deliveries are down 11% to 65,119 units, while Toyota’s are up 26.2% to 123,815.

GM Holden says it is partnering with three finance providers, Esanda, St. George and Capital Finance to provide the lowest loan rates ever offered through its dealers.

Sales, Marketing and Aftersales Executive Director John Elsworth says the program excludes the Cruze CD and Cruze Equipe cars and Colorado 4x2 pickup models.

Nissan Australia earlier made a 1-week offer of 1.0%, Honda Australia is pitching 0% financing on three models through the end of August and Renault Australia is offering interest-free 36-month loans on four models through Sept. 30.

The Age newspaper of Melbourne says the GM Holden incentive equates to savings of between A$3,000 ($3,176) and A$6,100 ($6,458) depending on the model.

It also says customers paying cash may end up getting an even better deal with GM Holden offering rebates of up to A$2,000 ($2,117) on the Barina small car, A$4,000 ($4,234) on the Captiva SUV and A$4,700 ($4,976) on the Commodore SV6 sedan.