My guess is that we also have a record number of car loans now due to the strong economy. I'll not look at this silly thread again.
Where I live the stronger the economy the more people pay cash and reduce loans. But we don't live in a creditcard economy... These 7 million buyers bought something they could not afford. The crash in housing prices in the US had the same cause: buyers bought something they could not afford, or made it unaffordable because they took extra loans.
It always cycles like this. Good economy, underwriting loosens, paper performance drops. Meanwhile the paper is securitized and sold into pension funds etc., ratings drop, economy weakens, underwriting tightens and so on.
With low unemployment and record people behind on their car payments (on the verge of reposession)... Its just a sign that people still living "beyond" their pay check and record number of people living from pay chech to pay check. wrbtrader
Repo's are typically "under water" and a worthless judgement doesn't help. Most end up in a chargeoff.