Subprime Auto Loan Default Rates Are Now Higher Than During The Financial Crisis

One month ago, when discussing the most recent trends in the US subprime auto loan space, we revealed how despite a virtual halt in direct loans by depositor banks to subprime clients following the financial crisis, the US banking sector now has over a third of a trillion dollars in indirect subprime exposure, in the form of loans to nonbanks financial firms which in the past decade have become the most aggressive lenders to America's sub-620 FICO population.

As we further explained, the banks' total indirect exposure to subprime loans – not just auto loans, but also subprime mortgages, and subprime consumer loans – could be pieced together through public filings, and according to FDIC reports, bank loans to nonbanks subprime lenders soared this decade, with the following 5 names standing out:

Wells Fargo: $81 billion, up from $13.4 billion in 2010
Citigroup: $30 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2010
Bank of America: $30 billion, up from $2.8 billion in 2010
JP Morgan: $28 billion, up from $10.4 billion in 2010
Goldman Sachs: $22 billion
Morgan Stanley: $16 billion

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