WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Data from the Power Information Network showed that leasing made up 18.2 percent of all new-vehicle deliveries in January 2005, up from 13.3 percent in January 2004.

January was the third consecutive month that more than 17 percent of all new-vehicle retail transactions were leases. Prior to this three-month period, the last month when this measure exceeded 17 percent was March 2003.

"One of the main reasons for this leasing renaissance is the increase in interest rates for new-vehicle loans," said Tom Libby, Power Information Network's senior director of industry analysis. "The average annual rate charged on new-vehicle loans exceeded 6 percent in nine of the 12 months of 2004 after being below 6 percent every month of 2003."

Libby also said the average new-car loan interest rate was 6.67 percent for the first two weeks of February, which is the highest rate since June 2002.

Much of the increase in leasing is in the luxury segment. Leasing penetration in each of the five luxury segments currently exceeds 33 percent, with leasing in the mid luxury and premium luxury segments accounting for more than 40 percent of all deliveries.