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Experian Automotive today announced that loans to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime risk tiers accounted for more than one in four new vehicle loans in Q2 2012. With 25.41 percent of all new vehicle loans to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep subprime risk tiers, loans to credit-challenged customers were up 14 percent compared to Q2 2011. In addition, new vehicle loans to credit-challenged customers now are higher than they were in Q2 2007 (24.96 percent) and Q2 2008 (24.49 percent) just prior to the financial market crisis. However, the Q2 analysis also shows that lenders are still taking a cautious approach, keeping loan-to-value (LTV) ratios (the amount of money paid over the life of a loan versus the purchase price of the vehicle) lower than they were a year ago. For new vehicles, the average LTV ratio was 109.55 percent in Q2 2012, compared to 115.65 percent in Q2 2011. “Despite the rise in subprime loans overall, there is still a strong sense of managing risk,” said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian Automotive. “Because the overall lending environment has improved, lenders are making loans available to a wider range of customers. This is good for manufacturers and dealers, as it allows them to sell more vehicles. However, the lower loan-to-value ratios show that lenders are not willing to throw caution to the winds.” Additionally, the Q2 report showed that the average customer credit score for new vehicle loans dropped nine points, from 762 in Q2 2011 to 753 in Q2 2012. For used vehicle loans, the average customer credit score also dropped nine points from 671 in Q2 2011 to 662 in Q2 2012. The average amount financed for a new vehicle increased $474, from $25,240 in Q2 2011 to $25,714 in Q2 2012. The average amount financed for a used vehicle jumped $370 from $17,063 in Q2 2011 to $17,433 in Q2 2012. The average monthly payment for both new and used vehicles was relatively flat, with new vehicles rising by $2, from $450 in Q2 2011 to $452 in Q2 2012. For used vehicles, monthly payments jumped $4, from $347 in Q2 2011 to $351 in Q2 2012. Complete findings from the State of the Automotive Finance Market Q2 2012 credit trends analysis will be presented in a Webinar at 11 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 6. If you would like to register for the event, visit www.ExperianAutomotive.com. Experian Automotive’s quarterly credit trend analysis features market reporting data and analysis from its AutoCount® Risk Report, which analyzes automotive lending markets based on a uniform measurement of credit quality that segments markets by geography, credit score and vehicle registrations, among other factors. It also incorporates data from the Experian–Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports, which provide topical, quarterly analysis; peer benchmarking options; and commentary on key issues facing the financial services industry. >> Subscribe to the Experian Blog by Email Photo: Shutterstock

Experian Marketing Services showed that email volume has increased 10 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011 according to the Experian® CheetahMail® 2012 Q2 email benchmark report. Experian CheetahMail also found that total open rates increased 1.5 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011. Analyzing the email volume among different industries shows that Travel and Consumer Products and Services emails reported the largest increases, with 41 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Media and Entertainment emails also reported a double-digit increase (17 percent) in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.There was only a 2 percent change in All Industry email volume from Q1 to Q2 in 2012, as all verticals except Travel had less growth from Q1 to Q2 in 2012 than they had for the same time in 2011. “For Q2 2012, overall email volume increased 10 percent while open rates were slightly above the 2011 Q2 rates, as more than 55 percent of brands had statistically significant increases in open rates for Q2 2012,” said Regina Gray, vice president of strategic services, Experian CheetahMail. “While click rates continued to show a year-over-year decline, there is some evidence that the rates are stabilizing. Email is still the most effective channel to connect with customers as we’ve seen a growing trend of brands utilizing social capabilities to acquire and engage consumers and fans across these new media channels.” The Email and Social Media Connection The Q2 benchmark report analyzed the Q2 2012 mailings that had a reference to a social media site in the mailing name or subject line of the email – such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest – and then were compared to the performance of all other mailings from the same clients for the same time period found that: 70 percent growth in brands sending ‘Like us’, ‘Follow us’ or ‘Pin us’ email campaigns. Pinterest ‘Pin us’ mailings are generating unique click rates that are almost 25 percent higher than other mailings. Unique open rates for Twitter ‘Follow us’ mailings are 9.5 percent higher than those for their other mailings, but unique click rates are virtually identical to all of their other mailings. Coupons had over 50 percent higher click rates and double the revenue per email than campaigns without offers. Experian CheetahMail’s Q2 2012 Quarterly Benchmark Study is available to download.

While the runways boast couture and fashions that you rarely see walking down the street, some of the top cities in the U.S. are keeping comfortable in their sweats. For the second year in a row, the nation’s top per capita consumer of sweats is Philadelphia, PA while New York was seventh, Los Angeles ranked eighth, and Chicago was twentieth. The top 10 cities for sweats consumption:  Philadelphia, PA Hartford, CT Pittsburgh, PA Lafayette, LA Laredo, TX Boston, MA New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Victoria, TX Scranton, PA Perhaps these purchases are travel-related.  Spirit Airlines passengers are the biggest buyers of sweats, followed by Jet Blue, Continental and US Air. Foreign airlines have really high sweat purchase numbers too – especially Asian carriers. On the flip side, Southwest Airlines passengers buy the fewest number of sweat apparel items. Source: Experian Marketing Services Simmons Photo: Shutterstock