Black customers in most U.S. states were charged more than whites for Nissan automobile loans between March 1993 and September 2000, according to a July 4 story in The New York Times.

In a statistical study of more than 300,000 car loans arranged through Nissan's lending arm, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. (NMAC), dealers indicated that black customers in 33 states were more likely than whites to pay more for their car loans, regardless of their credit histories, according to the Times.

The difference between interest rates given to black and white borrowers was biggest in Maryland and Wisconsin, where the average finance charge that blacks paid was about $800 higher than that paid by whites, the Times said.

Nissan and other auto lenders let car dealers make the final decision on how much customers pay for loans. A class-action lawsuit in Nashville against NMAC and a General Motors Corp. subsidiary, General Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC) that offers financing to dealers, and similar suits against other car lenders, argue that the lenders themselves should be responsible if dealers establish rates in a racially disparate way.

Officials at Nissan and General Motors were not available for comment.

The companies are not accused of racial bias, however, and all sides agree that the lenders do not know the race of customers who buy their cars, the Times said. Instead, the suit alleges, lenders' policies have statistically different impact on blacks, the paper said.

As a result of the study's findings, lawyers for black borrowers are seeking a preliminary injunction preventing Nissan from certain dealer mark-up arrangements, the only lender so far to provide this sort of information, the paper said.