GM Financial expects its public debt issuance will decline year over year in 2026, though captive finance companies kept a strong securitization pace through June.
GM Financial expects $10 billion to $12 billion in total securitization issuance in 2026, compared with $11.8 billion in 2025, and $6 billion to $8 billion in senior unsecured debt issuance, down from $10.6 billion in 2025, according to the captive’s second-quarter earnings presentation.
The captive issued $3.8 billion in public securitizations and $200 million in private securitizations in North America in Q2, according to the presentation.
GM Financial’s originations declined 5.4% YoY in Q2 as vehicle sales slowed, while outstandings fell 1.8% YoY to $109 billion. It was the second-largest auto lender by outstandings at yearend 2025, according to the latest Big Wheels ranking data.
2026 auto ABS volume expectations
Total auto asset-backed securitization (ABS) volume tracked by S&P Global rose 5% YoY to $66.6 billion through June 30, Amy Martin, managing director and sector lead for U.S. ABS, told Auto Finance News.
Increased auto ABS issuance by banks “has more than offset slightly lower issuance from the captive finance entities,” Martin said, noting S&P Global still expects overall issuance to be down slightly this year compared with 2025.
Auto sales are expected to fall to 15.8 million units in 2026, down from about 16.2 million in 2025, according to S&P Global. Martin previously told AFN the decrease in auto ABS issuance will result from lower vehicle sales.
Latest deals by captives
Through June, securitization issuance was up within auto as well as across securitized products, Brian Ford, managing director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, told AFN.
Several captives came to market with prime loan and lease transactions in July. GM Financial on July 9 issued a $1 billion deal backed by prime auto loans, its third of the year following deals in February and April.
The collateral pool’s weighted average (WA) FICO score was 781, up from 777 in the April deal, according to a July 6 S&P Global presale report. The concentration of battery electric vehicles in the latest pool also fell to 4.28% from 5.41%.
Several credit characteristics across the July transaction’s collateral pool improved compared with the April issuance, according to S&P Global:
- The WA annual percentage rate was 6.63%, down from 6.81%;
- The WA original term length was flat at 71 months; and
- The WA loan-to-value ratio was 102%, up from 101%.
Other captives issued more than $1 billion deals in July, according to CreditFlow, which monitors securities:
- Toyota Financial Services issued a $1.9 billion transaction backed by prime auto loans;
- CarMax issued a $1.4 billion prime transaction;
- Ford Credit issued a $1.3 billion prime deal;
- Hyundai issued a $1.5 billion transaction backed by leases; and
- Nissan issued a $1.3 billion lease deal.
U.S. auto ABS volume totaled $104.3 billion year-to-date through July 24, down 1.2% YoY, according to the latest data from JPMorgan Securities.
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