The purchase of an average-priced new vehicle during the third quarter of 2001 took 23.8 weeks of median family income, before taxes, according to the Auto Affordability Index compiled by Detroit-based Comerica Bank.

This equals the revised 23.8 weeks of income required for purchase in the second quarter. During the same quarter a year earlier, a new-vehicle purchase took 23.2 weeks of income, the most affordable level recorded in the 22-year (1979-2001) period, Comerica reported.

The average new-vehicle price in the third quarter was $23,685, up $251 or 1.1 percent from the second quarter. Median family income rose by 0.7 percent between the second and third quarters.

"Helping to offset this adverse turn of events for car buyers, financing rates fell nearly half of one percent and the average auto loan's maturity lengthened by two weeks," said David L. Littmann, senior vice president and chief economist at Comerica Bank.

Comerica's Auto Affordability Index is compiled from Commerce Department and Federal Reserve data.

About Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank, the oldest and largest bank in Michigan, is the lead subsidiary of Comerica Inc., a multi-state financial services provider headquartered in Detroit, with banking subsidiaries in Michigan, California and Texas, banking operations in Florida, and businesses in several other states.

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