According to a Detroit Free Press story by Tony Pugh, a new study of more than 6 million car loans made by Ford Motor Credit Co. from 1997 to 2001 finds that Hispanic buyers -- regardless of their credit history -- paid significantly higher interest rates than non-Hispanic borrowers.

The difference averaged roughly $266 per

loan. The study, the largest of several recent analyses of car loan data that looked for racial or ethnic patterns, attributed the additional costs to extra finance charges tacked on by dealers.

The research is part of a lawsuit against Ford Motor Credit of Dearborn, alleging discrimination against Hispanic car buyers. The captive finance arm of Ford Motor Co. has

denied the allegations. It will file a response to the study next week, according to spokesman Dan Jarvis. Jarvis maintains the study was seriously flawed and highly subjective.

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