Lenders Ease Loan Access to Low-Prime, Subprime Borrowers in Q2
Lenders relaxed access to loans for customers whose credit scores were subprime and in the lowest category of prime during the second quarter, according to auto origination figures from the New York Federal Reserve's "Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit." Automotive News reports that auto loan and lease originations combined totaled $155.6 billion in the quarter, up 2.9 percent from the second quarter of 2018, according to the report published Tuesday. A year ago, originations were up just 1.9 percent. The increase pushed total U.S. auto debt to a record $1.3 trillion, up 4.8 percent from a year ago. It's an increase of 29percent vs. the second quarter of 2015, which was the first time auto debt exceeded $1 trillion. Read more here (subscription required).
Mitsubishi Electric Stretching Boundaries of User Experience
How big can displays get? How can families interact as a group while driving in an autonomous vehicle? How personalized can connectivity become? Can a departed loved one become the voice of my digital assistant? These questions are explored in Mitsubishi Electric’s latest user experience concept, reports WardsAuto. Chinese startup Byton surprised attendees at January’s CES show with a 48-in. (122 cm) interactive screen stretching the width of the instrument panel in its new production-ready M-Byte concept. At the recent CAR Management Briefing Seminars, Mitsubishi Electric showed off a 48-in. interactive screen running sideways through the center of a fullsize SUV, taking the place of the center console and designed to be accessible to both front- and rear-seat occupants. Read more here.
Automakers Struggle to Bring Inventories Under Control
U.S. dealers had nearly 3.8 million unsold vehicles in stock at the beginning of August, a 71-day supply that was the highest for the month in nearly three decades, reports The Detroit Bureau. With U.S. auto sales on the decline for only the second time since the Great Recession, automakers are facing some uncomfortable choices: they can raise incentives in hopes of spurring demand while also taking a hit on the bottom line, or they can trim production, a move with its own set of costs and challenges. It appears they are taking the middle ground, trimming some production while also boosting incentives, according to industry analysts. But that approach could be paying off by starting to bring inventories under control. Read more here.
Audi e-tron Crossover First EV to Receive IIHS' Highest Safety Rating
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave Audi's 2019 e-tron crossover its highest award for performing well in crash and other safety testing. According to Automotive News, the e-tron is the first battery-electric vehicle with no supplemental gasoline or diesel engine to earn the Top Safety Pick Plus award from the institute, Audi said Wednesday. "The battery pack is housed in a frame with an internal honeycomb structure separating battery cell modules specifically to help dissipate energy," Audi said in a statement. "The 95 kWh battery pack is also sandwiched between protective covers on both its top and bottom, with coolant running underneath the battery pack to help maintain optimal thermal efficiency." To earn the 2019 award, the e-tron received "good" ratings in six "crashworthiness evaluations," a "superior" rating for front crash prevention and a "good" headlight rating, IIHS said in a statement. Read more here (subscription required).
Stocks Slide After Bond Market Warns Again of Recession
Stocks sank Wednesday after the bond market threw up one of its last remaining warning flags on the economy, reports USA Today. The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly dropped below the two-year Treasury's yield Wednesday morning. It's rare for short-term yields to rise above longer-term ones, and when it happens, market watchers call it "an inverted yield curve" and brace for the possibility of a recession hitting in a year or two. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 475 points in the first few minutes of trading before recouping some of its losses. Weak economic data around the world also unnerved investors, who flipped back into selling mode after driving a rally Tuesday on hopeful signals that the U.S.-China trade war may not be worsening so much. Read more here.
Webinar: Tax Reform Status Update for Dealers
Join AutoTalk on Tuesday, August 20th at 2:00pm ET as Amy Stillwell and Dan Cheyney of Moss Adams' Automotive and Dealer Services Group update dealers on:
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Additional tax plan clarification on dealer operations
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What we know now
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How tax reform effects dealers
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What you can do to minimize your taxes
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