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The credit reporting company, Experian, has been publishing quarterly reports on automotive financing trends since 2006 and last week they released their latest update with data as of Q2 2013. Here are some key takeaways:
A record 84.5% of vehicles purchased were financed in some manner (either a loan or a lease). This is up from 79.7% in 2008.
The average monthly payment for a new vehicle loan was $457, up $5 from the prior quarter.
27.6% of the vehicles that were financed were financed with a lease. This is up from 17.7% in 2010.
The average monthly payment for a new vehicle lease was $408, down $8 from same quarter 2012.
The average new vehicle purchase price was just over $31,000 while the average amount financed climbed $812 to $26,526.
Almost 20% of new vehicle loans were for 6 years or greater and the average auto loan term has increased by a month to 5 years and 5 months.
The average interest rate across all lenders on new cars was 4.46% in the quarter, down from 4.63% a year earlier.
For used cars, the average interest rate fell to 8.56% from 8.95%.
Loans to subprime borrowers (those with credit scores below 620) varied by lender type. 36% of the loans from U.S. Banks, 25% of the loans from the financing arms of vehicle manufactures and 15% of loans from credit unions were to subprime borrowers.
Total U.S. outstanding auto loans rose to nearly $751 billion, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
This chart shows is from the St. Louis Federal Reserve and compares new vehicle sales (blue line) against total U.S. Population (red line)
