While still at near historic lows, 60-day auto loan delinquencies increased by 7% to 0.62% in the second quarter from 0.58% during the same quarter in 2013.

According to Experian Automotive's State of the Automotive Finance Market released Wednesday, 30-day delinquencies showed a slight increase, going from 2.38% to 2.39% over the same time period.

The total balance of loans that are 60-days delinquent has increased by $859 million since Q2 2013, while the balance of 30-day delinquent loans has increased by $2.8 billion from a year earlier, the report noted.

“The rosy glow of perfect payment performance in the automotive space is beginning to tarnish,” said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive finance for Experian Automotive. “We're starting to see a slight uptick in the number of consumers struggling to make their automotive payments on time.

However, the late auto loan payment percentages are still extremely low, she added.

“We'll want to keep an eye on how consumers pay their bills in the coming months, as it may dictate the availability of credit in the future,” Zabritski said.

Meanwhile, outstanding automotive loan balances reached an all-time high in the second quarter of 2014. The total dollar amount of automotive loan balances outstanding hit $839.1 billion, up 11.7% from the previous year, according to Experian.

All lender types experienced growth in year-over-year quarterly loan volume, with banks up by $31 billion, credit unions up by $25 billion, finance companies up by $24 billion and captive finance companies up by $9 billion.

Other findings include from the report revealed the overall automotive repossession rate saw a significant increase in the second quarter of 2014, jumping more than 70% to 0.62% from a year earlier.

Finance companies were the only lender type to see a year-over-year increase in repossession rates, rising from 1.13% in Q2 2013 to 2.75% in Q2 2014, Experian discovered.

The average charge-off amount in Q2 2014 was $8,149, up $932 from the previous year, according to the report.

Instant Insights /

Slight Uptick in Late Auto Loan Payments: Experian

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