ATLANTA—Another report reveals consumers are pulling back from vehicle purchases.
Equifax is reporting the increase in loan balances on financed vehicles is beginning to slow—5.90 million auto loans, totaling $135.5 billion, have been originated year-to-date. This is a 1.0% decrease in accounts and a 1.3% increase in balances over this time last year, the company said.
CUToday.info recently cited data from CUNA indicating auto loan growth is slowing.
Auto loans represent 86.6% of all auto account originations and 89.8% of auto origination balances YTD, Equifax noted.
The company reported that 1.39 million auto loans have been originated YTD to consumers with a VantageScore 3.0 credit score below 620.
“These are generally considered subprime accounts. This is a 1.0% decrease from March 2018. These newly issued loans have a corresponding total balance of $25.5 billion, a 2.4% increase year-over-year,” Equifax stated.
One-Fifth to Subprime Borrowers
Through March, 23.5% of auto loans were issued to consumers with a subprime credit score, and they accounted for 18.8% of origination balances. In 2018 YTD the account share was 23.5% and balance share was 18.6%.
The average origination loan amount for all auto loans issued in March 2019 was $23,182. This is a 3.1% increase over March 2018. The average subprime loan amount was $18,552. This is a 3.6% increase compared to March 2018.