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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.

Volvo dealers pushing for V40 in America [w/poll]

Not too long ago, Volvo effectively replaced three models with one. Those were the C30, S40 and V50, and their replacement came in the form of the V40. While its predecessors were available (at some point, anyway) in North America, the V40 isn't. And that's something that Volvo's players in the US would like to change.
According to Automotive News, both Volvo Cars of North America and its dealers are pressing the factory to reverse its decision and prepare the V40 for an American assault on the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3. It's a game they won before with the current V60, which hasn't been available here, but is set to make the transatlantic voyage come the start of the new year.
This time, though, Volvo Cars of North America may have a bigger fight on its hands, because the V40 wasn't designed to meet US regulations. Getting it up to spec, then, may be a bigger challenge than it's worth. But if the American importer and dealer network makes its voice heard, the V40's replacement could be designed with US regulations in mind.

Used Volvo V70 wagon for $20 million includes New York 'New York' vanity plate

Billed as the world's most expensive Volvo wagon, a dark blue New York-based V70 is currently for sale for $20 million (and probably will be for some time). It's not the car that makes the sale special, though. It's the New York state vanity plate that reads "NEW YORK." Indeed, the ad lists a Volvo but it doesn't even mention the year, mileage or model, and in photos it's still wearing a fresh sheen of road salt. Custom plates are big business in some parts of the world. It also should be noted that the plates are of a recent design and not of the original 1970 issue. New York allows you to update vanity plates to new designs for a small fee. According to the listing on Du Pont Registry, the current owner of the plate suggested that their father buy the plate in the 1970s. This was when New York first began offering personalized plates. Surprisingly, it had not yet been claimed, allowing the family to ride around with the words "New York, New York" plastered on their government-issued vehicle identification for four decades. While the ad claims that the plate, replicas of which are sold in souvenir shops all over the Big Apple, is transferable to any vehicle, we have our doubts. Best we can tell, New York license plates don't stay with the car. The Empire State requires you to surrender your plates when you sell your car, unless you're planning on transferring them to a new car. However, the transfer can only be done, according to the New York DMV, if the names on both registrations are the same. You can't even transfer the plate to your spouse. The same rules apply for personalized plates. If you sell a vanity plated car without an immediate replacement, you can store the personalized plate with the New York DMV and then reinstate them later, but nowhere does it say the plate can be transferred. In fact, the DMV says "The new owner must apply for a new vehicle registration, vehicle plates and a title certificate. The new owner does not use the vehicle plates or the registration items of the previous owner." As our own Joe Lorio put it, "Whoever buys that Volvo might end up with just a very expensive used Volvo wagon."