There is a lot of talk out there about the auto-loan market right now.
Hedge fund manager Jim Chanos has said the auto-lending market should “scare the heck out of everybody,” while the auto-lending practices of some used-car dealerships has been given the John Oliver treatment on TV.
It’s a topic we’ve been paying attention to as well. In a presentation in September at the Barclays Financial Services Conference, Gordon Smith, the chief executive for consumer and community banking at JPMorgan, set out some eye-opening statistics on the market.
Now the New York Federal Reserve is taking a closer look at the market. In a blog published Wednesday on the New York Fed’s Liberty Street Economics site, researchers highlighted the deteriorating performance of subprime auto loans and set off the alarm.
“The worsening in the delinquency rate of subprime auto loans is pronounced, with a notable increase during the past few years,” the report said.
