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Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.

Autoblog Podcast #317

Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota thinks of beefing up US production, Marchionne on Alfa, Dart and minivans, Ford Atlas concept, Honda Gear concept
Episode #317 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and Michael Harley bookend the other podcast topics with a pair from the Montreal Auto Show, the Mitsubishi Mirage and Honda Gear concept, and in between we talk about Toyota building all its US-market cars stateside, Hyundai building a Nurburgring test facility, Sergio Marchionne's latest words about Alfa Romeo, Dodge Dart powertrains and the future of Chrysler vans. Some chatter about the Ford Atlas concept finishes up the meat of the 'cast and then we wrap with your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #317:

Volvo debuts new Drive-E four-cylinder engines

Volvo is introducing a new engine family based on its new Drive-E philosophy, which encompasses "all innovations made to reduce the impact on the environment," the automaker says. Less cylinders allows for less environmental impact, so the new engines are all four-pots. They also were designed to pair easily with Volvo's upcoming hybrid drive system, which "will reach power figures in the V8 territory" and play a "dominant part of the top end of [Volvo's] range," says Derek Crabb, Vice President Powertrain Engineering. Volvo also says we can expect "power curves that give exciting drivability compared with engines with more cylinders."
Volvo says some versions of the engine were designed targeting best-in-class fuel economy. There are both gasoline and diesel options, but the latter of which isn't scheduled for US consumption. Instead, the US will be offered two states of tune of the gasoline Drive-E engine for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Some of Volvo's current all-wheel-drive powertrains will remain available in the US until the company has transitioned solely to the new, fuel-efficient inline-fours.