Skip to main content

The Big Question in Auto Loans: Why Aren’t Repossessions Increasing?

NEW YORK–A new report suggests more and more car buyers are having difficulty keeping up with auto loan payments—but raises the question over why repossessions aren’t rising.


According to a report from Automotive News, 1.63% of auto loans haven’t received a payment in at least 60 days, which is 0.4% higher than it was the same time in 2021, and the highest in the past four years.

Despite the increase, car loan default rates remain below pre-pandemic levels. Satyan Merchant, the senior vice president of TransUnion told Automotive News the increase can be attributed to changes in origination — or where borrowers stand in credit and spending.

Borrowers who took out auto loans in the second and third quarters of 2020 are keeping up with them better than pre-pandemic borrowers, according to TransUnion. But auto loans in the second and third quarters of 2021 are starting to show similar delinquency rates as debt from before COVID-19, Automotive News reported.

“There is slight worsening performance of recent vintages at a risk tier level when we isolate near-prime and above cohorts, and we suspect pandemic score migration may be playing a role,” Merchant said in a statement quoted by Automotive News.

Merchant pointed to a subprime customer whose credit improved in 2020 and was near prime for a 2021 car loan, but who now behaves more like a subprime consumer.

According to Merchant, inflation and interest rates can increase delinquencies, but unemployment is the most likely metric for the industry to watch.

The Big Question

Then question has now become, if delinquency rates are up, why aren’t repossessions? asked Automotive News.  Equifax found 2.14% of auto loans in the first six months of this year were more than 120 days behind on payments, a number that isn’t great but that is much lower than the 2.9% rate from in 2019, Automotive News stated.

In short, consumers aren’t letting the delinquencies lead to defaults, Automotive News stated.

CUToday

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Federal Credit Union Investment Authority

WASHINGTON—Reps. Janelle Bynum (D-OR) and Young Kim (R-CA) introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday that would significantly broaden the investments available to federal credit unions, including giving them new authority to invest in corporate debt and asset-backed securities. Young Kim The Credit Union Investment Authority Act would amend the Federal Credit Union Act to expand federal credit unions’ investment authority. Under the bill, federal credit unions could invest in marketable debt obligations issued by companies and other organizations that are not limited to serving credit unions. The legislation would cap a credit union’s investment in the obligations of any single issuer at 10% of its paid-in unimpaired capital and surplus. The measure would also expressly authorize investments in asset-backed securities as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Kathleen Coulombe The bill would require the NCUA board to issue implementing regulations within one year of enactm...

Liquidity Resources

Liquidity Resources Liquidity is a credit union’s capacity to meet its cash and collateral obligations at a reasonable cost. Adequate liquidity is necessary to efficiently meet both expected and unexpected cash flows and collateral needs without compromising the credit union’s daily operations or financial condition. Effective credit union management identifies, measures, monitors, and controls exposure to liquidity risk. Primary Risks In managing expected cash flows, a credit union may experience situations that increase its liquidity risk. These situations include mismatches between sources and uses of funds, market constraints on the ability to convert assets into cash or to access sources of funds (market liquidity), and contingent liquidity events. Changes in economic conditions or exposure to credit, market, operational, legal, and also can affect an institution’s liquidity risk profile. None of these risks are mutually exclusive, and interrelated risks may contribute to increase...

Just What Is Our Gross Domestic Product

    A core measure of a nation's total economic activity, gross domestic product represents the value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given year. Economists can calculate a country's aggregate economic activity by adding together its total consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net exports. As of June 2026, the US' inflation-adjusted GDP was about $24.2T. > The three different ways to calculate GDP. ( More ) > How "nominal" GDP differs from "real" GDP. ( More ) Since the concept was popularized by Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets in the 1930s, GDP has become one of the most important economic indicators in both domest...

Senate, 51-47, has confirmed John Crews to the NCUA board

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate, 51-47, has confirmed John Crews to the NCUA board, clearing the way for him to succeed Kyle Hauptman and return the agency to a single-member board following the Trump Administration's removal of Democratic board members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka earlier this year. Maintaining the foundational stability of the credit union system Supporting efficient, risk-based regulation that accounts for institutional size and operational differences Preparing for technological advancement while safeguarding member assets Encouraging the growth of new credit unions to serve underbanked and military communities Preserving an open, accessible, and collaborative dialogue between the NCUA and the credit union movement Crews, who most recently served in the Treasury Department, has said his priorities include reducing regulatory burden for smaller credit unions, encouraging innovation and supporting the chartering of new credit unions, while maintaining the safety and s...

Dolphin Debit, Enters into Partnership With CUSI

 HOUSTON–  Dolphin Debit , a full-service ATM management company, said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Credit Union Services, Inc. (CUSI), the Service Corporation of the MD|DC Credit Union Association. “Through the strategic partnership, CUSI adds a budget-ready, industry-leading ATM management program to its portfolio of solutions for credit unions in the Maryland and D.C. region,” Dolphin Debit said. According to Dolphin Debit, its ATM outsourcing service includes purchase and deployment of new ATMs, purchase of the financial institution’s existing ATMs, terminal driving, transaction processing, ATM maintenance, armored car service, communications, monitoring and dispatch, and cash management. “We welcome this oppor...

How to Prepare for a Recession

  By Ray Birch IRVINE, Calif.—There’s little chance the Federal Reserve will steer the U.S. away from a recession in the next 12-18 months, says one economist, who adds delinquencies among the nation’s lenders could become an issue in the near future. Elliot Eisenberg, chief economist for economic consultancy GraphsandLaughs, said during a recent Origence webcast he does not think the recession will be deep. But he also urged credit unions to revisit loan loss reserves built during the pandemic and to shore those up again. What the growth of inflation will come down to, explained Eisenberg, is whether the Federal Reserve, as it adjusts rates upward to curb inflation, will be able to engineer a “soft landing” for the econo...

Become your kid's mortgage lender

Between slumping prices and low mortgage rates, it's a good time to look for real estate bargains. But thanks to tightened lending standards, legions of young would-be homebuyers aren't exactly in a position to take advantage of the opportunity. That's where their parents come in: One in three first-time buyers received either a gift or a loan from their families to help buy a home in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors. **** More At; Become your kid's mortgage lender :

Sunday Reading - Near-death experiences, 101

  Scrapes with Death   Near-death experiences, 101 A near-death experience usually occurs in the wake of a traumatic physical event or a reversible clinical death, such as when someone is  revived after a heart attack . While the experience varies, NDEs commonly feature a feeling of detachment from the body, visions of bright lights, a warped sense of time, or religious experiences. Records of NDEs go back to the ancient Greeks and are found across cultures all over the world. The first known clinical observation was recorded  in 18th-century France . In the 1970s, psychiatrist Raymond Moody pioneered the academic study of NDEs as medical events after an acquaintance relayed his own near-death experience. Roughly  5% of the population  is estimated to have a memory of an NDE, with common reports of a feeling of peacefulness (80%), followed by bright lights (69%) and encountering other people or spirits (64%). ... Read our full  explainer on NDEs here ....

CFPB Issues Final Rule on Remittance Transfers; Proposes Changes As Well

On January 20, 2012, the CFPB adopted a final rule amending Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfers) to include consumer protections for various types of remittance transfers. The rule was originally proposed by the Federal Reserve Board last May; however, authority to finalize the rule-making transferred to the CFPB on July 21, 2011  ****More At;  CFPB Issues Final Rule on Remittance Transfers; Proposes Changes As Well : Written by Bernadette Clair, Regulatory Compliance Counsel   

What Credit Unions Must Prioritize In 2026’s Payments Landscape

  By Ray Birch ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Artificial intelligence isn’t just reshaping the way consumers search, shop, and save—it’s about to transform how they pay. And according to Velera Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Tom Pierce, credit unions that don’t start preparing now risk being left behind as members grow increasingly comfortable letting AI handle financial decisions. They also need to be paying attention to an immediate opportunity to grow their credit card portfolios, he said. iStock-Harsa Maduranga Velera’s newly released Eye on Payments 2025 study—one of the industry’s most comprehensive looks at consumer payment behavior—shows the rise of AI is accelerating at a pace few anticipated. One in three consumers now use AI a few times per week, and more than half already apply it to financial planning or budgeting. Even more striking, 42% said they would feel comfortable using AI to make transactions, and that figure jumps to nearly 80% among Gen Z and younger ...