Autoblog

More Americans paying their car loans on time

Scott Burgess — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:31:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials

Nearly everyone in America with a car loan is making the payment on time, the Detroit Free Press is reporting.

A scant .36 percent of people with a car loan are 60 or more days behind on making their payment, according to a TransUnion report looking at the January through March quarter of auto loan payments. That means more than 99-percent of customers borrowing cash for cars are on time.

The tiny percentage, which represents a drop of about 27 percent year-over-year is the lowest since TransUnion started tracking it in 1999.

The fall in loan delinquency, however, may not be great news for banks overall. TransUnion attributes some of the on-time payments to recession weary consumers placing a priority on their car payment while foregoing payments on credit cards and underwater homes.

More Americans paying their car loans on time originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 May 2012 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Car loan delinquincies jump almost 9 percent

Michael Harley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Earnings/Financials

Delinquent auto loans, those more than 60 days past due, are on the rise. According to credit reporting agency TransUnion, they ballooned 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 when compared with the same period a year earlier. While glancing at the Detroit News headline would lead most to think delinquencies are now in double-digits nationwide, the actual default rate has risen to just .86 percent (up from .79 percent) - yeah, less than 1 percent (as optimists at Autoblog, we like to applaud the more than 99 percent of customers who are able to pay on time).

The states with the highest delinquencies are Mississippi (1.62 percent), California (1.46 percent), and Louisiana (1.37 percent). On the other end, those with low delinquencies - and most likely to be paying on time - are found in Alaska (.19 percent), North Dakota (.34 percent), and Wyoming (.41 percent). If there is good news to be found in the report from TransUnion, it is that the average outstanding auto debt fell from the prior year - a direct reflection of owners holding their cars longer and credit tightening on new purchases.

[Source: Detroit News]

REPORT: Car loan delinquincies jump almost 9 percent originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GMAC restructuring will shed 930 jobs from financing branch

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:59:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM, Earnings/Financials

Two days ago we told you about Cerberus head Stephen Feinberg's rather sanguine thoughts on Chrysler. Cerberus' other big auto investment, GMAC, is having a few issues of its own. Last year GMAC's auto lending division posted a profit of $1.77 billion, but losses in the mortgage loan division turned that into a $2.33 billion for the entire company. So, GMAC is doing what companies often do in these situations: positioning itself "with a more competitive cost structure and greater operational flexibility for future growth." Which is done by firing people, shutting down offices, and consolidating what's left over.

From 20 North American offices, the company will trim down to five regional centers in the U.S. and Canada, and get rid of 930 workers, representing 15-percent of the workforce. After GM takes the charge for restructuring, the move will provide $175 million in savings.

And as with Chrysler, Cerberus isn't sweating the current state of things. Feinberg, in that letter to investors, said of GMAC, "The good news is that we bought GMAC cheaply enough so that even with all the bad news in the mortgage market and credit markets, we are still in reasonable shape with our overall investment. However, if the credit markets continue to decline and we find ourselves in a prolonged environment of capital market shutdown, GMAC could run into substantial difficulty." Still, doomsday appears to be a ways off: GMAC expects to be profitable again in 2008.

[Source: Yahoo!]

GMAC restructuring will shed 930 jobs from financing branch originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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