U.S. consumers turn to auto loans at a record rate

In the second quarter, 85 percent of new car purchases and 53.8 percent of used car purchases were financed, according to data from Experian Plc (EXPN.L), an information provider. "More and more consumers, especially those that are credit challenged, are turning to the used vehicle market as a viable option to purchase their next car," said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive finance for Experian, in a statement. Banks were the largest lenders to consumers buying used cars, financing 35.6 percent of all such purchases, or 0.8 percentage points less than the second quarter of last year. Such "captive" finance companies made more than one out of every two new car loans in the second quarter, according to Experian.

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