Auto Loan Interest Rates Hit 10-Year High

Edmunds says the average APR for a U.S. new-vehicle loan was 6.36% in March, putting dealers and consumers on the cusp of a ‘dramatic shift’ toward the used-car market.

CFPB Accused of Using ‘Junk Science’ to Regulate Auto Lending

Wells Pulls Back, Chase Sees Thinner Margins

SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK — The country’s largest auto lender, Wells Fargo, tempered its auto lending activities during the first quarter of 2015, officials reported during a conference call this week. Also reporting quarterly earnings was J.P. Morgan Chase, which saw solid loan and lease growth in the automotive space. Auto originations at Wells ... Read More »

Wells Fargo: Subprime Cap Part of ‘Ongoing Risk Management’

IRVINE, Calif. — A statement released by Wells Fargo Dealer Services didn’t deny the bank has placed a cap on subprime auto loans for this year, but it stopped short of saying the move was the bank’s response to media claims of an overheating auto finance market. Citing unnamed executives from Wells Fargo, The New ... Read More »

TransUnion: Auto Loan Growth Driven by Millennial Originations

CHICAGO — The millennial generation is the fastest-growing segment of auto loan consumers, according to TransUnion’s latest auto report. Millennials — consumers born in 1981 or after — represented 27% of total auto loan originations in 2014, up from 16% of total originations in 2009. Millennials’ total outstanding auto balances have increased 23% in the ... Read More »

‘Great Deleveraging’ Has Ended, Equifax Reports

ATLANTA — Based on consumer credit data collect by Equifax through November, the five-year run of debt deleveraging might be over. The credit reporting agency reported this week that nonmortgage credit balances reached their highest level since the Great Recession in November, totaling $3.1 trilling. Showing the biggest increase were credit balances for auto loans. ... Read More »

Length of Car Loans Rises, Helps Fuel Sales

New car and truck loans have ballooned to an average of 5 1/2 years from four to five years not long ago, allowing buyers to afford more expensive vehicles and fulfill their urge to drive the newest thing now, reported The Detroit News. Auto industry analysts say that longer term auto loans — some for ... Read More »

More Car Buyers Are Struggling to Make Payments

The repo man is getting very busy as a growing number of car and truck owners are struggling to make their monthly auto loan payments, reported NBC News. Experian, which analyses millions of auto loans, said Wednesday that the percentage of those loans that were delinquent or ended up in default with the vehicle being ... Read More »

Auto Loan Debt Reaches Three-Year Mark, Delinquencies Remain Low

DOJ Investigating Fifth Third Bank’s Auto Lending Practices