New personal loans for road vehicles rose 1.8% in the September quarter 2026, while other new personal borrowing and home lending fell, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Home lending had its largest quarterly fall in value on record, and personal loans for purposes other than vehicles dropped 8.7%.
This article is for two groups: salaried buyers with a clean credit history who are planning a car purchase, and established business owners planning a vehicle or equipment upgrade. It sets out what the ABS reported, what the figures do and do not measure, our own calculation of the vehicle share of personal lending and a checklist for comparing complete offers now that the cash rate has risen twice since the quarter began. The ABS and RBA sources were checked on 12 November 2026.
What the September quarter car loan lending figures show
The ABS Lending Indicators for the September quarter 2026, released on 11 November 2026, reported in seasonally adjusted terms:
- Personal fixed term loans for road vehicles: $4.8 billion, up 1.8% on the June quarter and down 2.7% on a year earlier.
- Personal fixed term loans for other purposes: $4.5 billion, down 8.7% in the quarter. The ABS groups personal investment, travel and holidays, other vehicles and household goods in this category.
- All personal fixed term loans: $9.3 billion, down 3.9% in the quarter and 0.8% over the year. These personal figures exclude refinancing.
- Home loans: the number of new loan commitments for dwellings fell 15.0% to 111,878. The ABS media release says the value fell 15.5%, the largest quarterly fall since the series began in 2002, led by a 30.6% fall in the number of investor loans.
The June quarter vehicle figure has been revised to $4.67 billion since our June quarter car loan lending article, which reported the first estimate of $4.7 billion.
What the ABS is counting
The ABS methodology defines a commitment as a firm offer that the lender has approved, issued as a contract or letter of offer, and that the borrower has accepted. A pre-approval you have not taken up is not counted. Road vehicles are defined as vehicles primarily used on the road, such as cars, trucks and utes, excluding trailers.
The figures are total dollar values. They do not show how many loans were written, the average loan size or the interest rates borrowers were charged, so they cannot tell you what any lender will offer you.
Our calculation: vehicles are back above half of new personal lending
Using the seasonally adjusted values in the ABS personal finance data table, we divided new road vehicle loans by all new personal fixed term loans for each quarter:
- September quarter 2025: $4,888.9 million of $9,357.4 million, or 52.2%.
- June quarter 2026: $4,673.3 million of $9,661.0 million, or 48.4%.
- September quarter 2026: $4,759.0 million of $9,279.4 million, or 51.3%.
So the September rise came from vehicle lending holding up while other personal borrowing fell, not from a surge in car finance. Vehicle lending is still below its level a year earlier. This is our arithmetic on the ABS figures, not an ABS statistic.
What business owners can take from the business finance tables
The release summary covers business lending for construction and property. The detailed data tables go further:
- Finance leases for road vehicles: new business commitments were $978.5 million in the September quarter (seasonally adjusted), up from $830.8 million in the June quarter, a rise of about 17.8% by our calculation, according to the ABS finance lease table.
- Small business loans for plant and equipment: fixed term commitments were $5,400.8 million in the September quarter, about 2.7% higher than the $5,261.4 million a year earlier, according to the ABS small business table. This series is not seasonally adjusted, so we compared it with the same quarter a year earlier. The ABS counts road vehicles within plant and equipment, and treats a business as small when the lender's exposure to it is under $1 million and its turnover is under $50 million.
A rise in finance lease commitments does not make a lease the better structure for your business. Ownership, GST treatment and the end-of-term position differ between a chattel mortgage and a finance lease. Our guide to chattel mortgage, novated lease and finance lease compares them, and our article on business credit growth in September 2026 covers the RBA's credit figures.
Why the rate backdrop has changed since the quarter ended
The September quarter ended on 30 September. The RBA's cash rate history shows the cash rate target rose to 4.60% from 30 September and to 4.85% from 4 November 2026, so almost none of the loans in these figures were written after either rise. Our article on the November 2026 rate rise covers that decision.
Before you accept a car or equipment finance offer
- Check the date on every quote. A quote or pre-approval issued before 4 November may not reflect the lender's current pricing. Ask the lender to confirm the rate still applies. Our guide on car loan pre-approval explains what a pre-approval does and does not lock in.
- Compare complete offers, not headline rates. Line up the comparison rate, establishment and monthly fees, any balloon and the total repayments for the same amount and term. Our explainer on comparison rate versus interest rate shows why, and our check of big four car loan rates in November 2026 shows how wide published ranges are.
- Decide on deposit versus retained cash. A larger deposit lowers the amount financed. Keeping cash in reserve leaves a buffer for another rate change or running costs. Work out the repayment both ways with our repayment calculators.
- For a business purchase, settle the structure first. Choose between a chattel mortgage, finance lease or other structure with your accountant before comparing lenders, so each quote is for the same thing. Our business equipment finance page outlines the options.
- Check the lender directly. Our lender profiles summarise published rates and fees. Confirm the current figures on the lender's own website before you apply.
The bottom line
New car loan lending rose 1.8% in the September quarter 2026 to $4.8 billion, and by our calculation vehicles went back above half of new personal fixed term lending, mainly because other personal borrowing fell. For business owners, finance lease commitments for road vehicles rose about 17.8% in the quarter. None of these aggregate figures sets the rate you will be offered, and the cash rate has risen twice since the quarter began. If you are ready to compare, explore car loan options with quotes dated after 4 November.
The lending figures are the ABS's published data and the cash rate dates are the RBA's, checked on 12 November 2026. Our calculations are labelled and use the ABS values shown. This article is general information only and is not financial advice.
