Interest rates for auto loans have continued to drop, especially for luxury buyers, observers say.

In December, the average auto loan carried an APR of 4.16 percent, according to Edmunds.com. This marked a 0.33 percent decline from November and a drop of 0.55 percent from December 2009, the website said.

An estimated 15.4 percent of auto loans made last month carried no interest, the website said. Analysts for Edmunds.com attributed much of the drop to luxury car makers, whose clients are affluent and financially stable, according to the site.

As of Jan. 26, the interest rate on a four-year loan for an automobile averaged 6.18 percent in a survey of banks and thrifts by Bankrate.com. The rate on a six-year loan was 6.22 percent, according to the site.

Jeff Quayle, senior vice president of the Ohio Bankers League, said Ohio banks have begun to see greater demand not only for auto loans, but also other types of consumer lending. Loans to individuals increased to $150 billion in Ohio last year, compared with $141 billion in the prior year, he said.

“In general, we’re starting to see some light in a lot of our segments of lending,” he said. “You can see a nice jump there.”

Ohio credit unions as a whole saw auto lending demand fall in the third quarter compared to the prior year.

Loans for new autos fell 11.69 percent during the quarter compared to third quarter 2009, according to the Ohio Credit Union League. Loans for used autos were up 5.1 percent last year, compared with the prior period, the league said.

Patrick Harris, a spokesman for the league, said the low rates offered by car manufacturers have heightened competition.

However, lenders consider auto loans attractive partly because they generate interest income, Harris said. But they also provide a draw for new customers so credit unions can offer them other products and services, Harris said.