New car sales crashed 38% this year — blame the 60% down payment rule?

Since May 2026 the Central Bank has capped vehicle leasing at 40% LTV for any brand-new car, SUV, van, three-wheeler or motorcycle, so you need 60% of the price in cash before a bank or finance company will even talk to you. By August, brand-new car registrations had fallen 38% year-on-year to just 632 units, and two-wheelers were down almost 12% too, with dealers blaming the rule as much as the import duty surcharge. Side one: the Central Bank is protecting the whole finance sector from a repeat of the bad-debt pileup after the last leasing boom — a 60% deposit means buyers can actually afford the car, not just the first few instalments. Side two: this just locks ordinary salary earners out of a brand-new vehicle entirely and pushes everyone toward an already overpriced used market, while people sitting on cash buy new without blinking. If you tried to lease a new vehicle this year, what down payment did the bank actually ask for, and did you give up and buy used instead? ලීසිං සීමාව 40%ට අඩු කළාට පස්සේ අලුත් කාර් එකක් ගන්න 60%ක් අතේ තියෙන්න ඕනේ. ඒක හොඳ පාලනයක්ද, නැත්නම් සාමාන්‍ය මිනිසාව පන්නන එකක්ද?