The total balance of auto loans was $975 billion at year- end 2014, according to Equifax Inc.’s National Consumer Credit Trends Report released last week. “The automobile industry had a strong year in 2014, selling more than 16.4 million new cars,” Dennis Carlson, deputy chief economist at Equifax, said in a press release. “Further, while write-offs have increased slightly from last year, delinquency rates remain near record lows.”
Through October, 21.2 million loans — an eight-year high — had been originated, according to Equifax. Of those loans, 6.5 million — or roughly 31% — went to borrowers with credit scores of 640 or below. On a dollar basis, originations totaled $434.1 billion, of which $119.0 billion were nonprime.
