Auto Loan, Lease Total at Record $1.3 Trillion during 2021

The auto finance market grew 6.7% in 2021, in spite of challenges securing new-car inventory during the COVID-19 pandemic. This growth drove auto loans and leases remaining open to reach $1.3 trillion, an all-time high, according to the annual Big Wheels* Auto Finance ranking of car lenders and lessors released today.

“Auto finance growth in 2021 was largely driven by strong – and expensive – used cars, which bolstered originations,” said Marcie Belles, author of the report… “many financiers recorded lower ratios of new cars in their portfolios. Still, origination volume has been nearly restored to pre-COVID levels, and it continues to climb.”

In terms of lenders, total loan and lease volume grew 8.8%. The nation’s top 100 backers closed 2021 with nearly $690 billion of originations, up from $634 billion in the year prior.

Auto leasing lost popularity for the second straight year, dropping to 22.1% of total outstandings from 23.6% in 2020. With new-vehicle inventory limited, used-vehicle values continued climbing, which made leasing less attractive. In all, 25 financiers offered leasing products, combining to hold $293 billion of leases at year-end. Captives were the primary providers of leases, accounting for $235 billion of lease outstandings last year; their market share increased to 80.2% from 77.3%, according to Big Wheels Auto Finance.

The Nation’s Top 5 Financiers as Ranked in 2022

1. Toyota Financial Services
2. GM Financial
3. Ally Financial
4. Chase Auto
5. Capital One Auto Finance

Toyota Financial Services retained its crown as the No. 1 financier by outstandings, ending the year with $100.5 billion of receivables, down from $101.4 billion in the prior year.

*About Big Wheels

The Big Wheels Auto Finance Data Report claims to be the nation’s only tabulation of auto lending and leasing. The report, published annually since 1999, uses a wide range of public, private and proprietary data to formulate its ranking of the Top 200 auto finance companies. It includes a directory of these companies, as well as an interactive online data tool of the rankings data. Big Wheels Auto Finance is published by Auto Finance News, a unit of Royal Media.

Since 1996, Auto Finance News has been the “newsletter of record” for the auto lending and leasing market. The 2022 Big Wheels report includes enhancements that provide a deeper understanding of the sector. Including estimates for the percent of financing volume made for new vehicles and rankings of the top 100 originators by total new- and used-vehicle volume.The 2022 Big Wheels Auto Finance Data Report is now available at http://www.BigWheelsData.com.