 TITLE: U.S. Auto Debt Grows to Record High Despite Pandemic CONTENT: Auto Leasing Slows, While Electric Vehicles' Popularity Surges\n--------------------------------------------------------------\nWhile most borrowing trends have remained relatively steady since 2019, certain areas of the automobile market are experiencing changes worth highlighting. Experian's Q4 2020 State of the Automotive Finance Market report gives a detailed overview of changes in the auto finance market. Here are the highlights from Q4 2020:\n*   **Consumers are leasing vehicles less often.** The percentage of all new vehicles that are leased dropped to 27% in Q4 2020, down from 31% in 2019. Lease payments have ticked up for nearly all consumers, except those in the prime and super prime segments who saw lease payments decrease in 2020.\n*   **Electric and hybrid cars are growing in popularity.** Electric and hybrid vehicles are becoming more commonplace, and their popularity spiked in 2020. Electric and hybrid vehicles now make up 7% of new financing—an increase from 4% in 2019. Toyota leads the market with the largest share (39%) of electric and hybrid vehicles, followed by Tesla (26%) in Q4 2020.\n*   **Loan payments are growing, despite lower interest rates.** The average interest rate for an auto loan was 4.31% in Q4 2020, down from 5.25% from the same period the previous year. But even with interest rates on the decline, the average new loan amount spiked along with the average monthly payment. The average amount financed grew by nearly $2,000 to a total of $35,228 and the average monthly payment grew by $21 to $563 in Q4 2020.\n\"The automotive finance industry is a resilient one, and we saw that again in 2020,\" says Zabritski. \"Despite the turbulent year, we did see automotive portfolio balances grow, which is a positive sign, though it's likely driven by the higher average loan amounts. END