With September in the books, Edmunds reported this week that interest rates have stayed above 5% for eight months in a row and now mirror levels not seen since before the Great Recession.
Finance sources responded to the recent uptick in delinquencies by moving upstream in the first quarter, pushing subprime lending to a 10-year low.
The firm today reported that average amounts financed for new and used reached record highs of $30,621 and $19,329, respectively. Total balances also reached a record high, although Experian observed a slowing in year-over-year growth.
The two agencies announced before Thanksgiving that the dollar thresholds in the TILA’s Reg Z. and the CLA’s Reg. M for exempt consumer credit transaction will remain at $54,600 for 2017.
In a dealer bulletin obtained by F&I and Showroom, Ford Motor Credit announced the availability of 84-month financing on new retail and subvented rate contracts. The bulletin urges dealers to consider the negative impacts of longer term loans.
With new-vehicle loan amounts and monthly payments rising to record highs during the fourth quarter, leasing’s share of the market grew to record levels. Data from Experian Automotive also showed that more consumers turned to the used-vehicle market in the end-of-year period.
General Motors Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. announced a long-term partnership to offer financing to Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers and retail customers in GM’s West marketing region.
Asbury Automotive Group Inc. announced that it has entered into a $900 million credit facility that will provide up to $625 million for new-vehicle inventory floorplan financing and up to $100 million for used vehicle inventory floorplan financing.
Sixty-day delinquencies are on the decline and credit quality continues to improve, but lenders still favored prime customers in the first quarter.
The auto finance market continued to stabilize in the fourth quarter, as the crash of 2008 continues to become a distant memory. New financing, however, will remain the domain of the prime and superprime tiers in the months to come.
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