Much talk this week was centered on the substantial drop in consumer credit outstanding in July, and indeed the decline at an annualized rate of 10.5% was steep.

But auto lending should not be lumped into that dire assessment. In fact, auto loan originations grew 2.3% in the month of July, according to the Federal Reserve. And that growth is not too shabby considering the massive contraction in overall consumer credit.

Did Cash for Clunkers have something to do with it? Sure, but growth is growth, and when you couple the portfolio expansion with new data showing that auto credit performance has held up nicely through the credit crisis (Standard & Poor's will publicize the data at next week's Auto Finance Summit), there is reason to look at the sector with a certain degree of pride.