SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -

Experian Automotive revealed recently that consumers continued to make timely auto loan payments during the second quarter, lowering the average delinquency rate across all lending organizations, including commercial banks, captive finance arms, finance companies and credit unions.

Experian’s analysis showed that the second-quarter’s 30-day delinquency rate stood at 2.52 percent, compared to 2.59 percent in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, the second-quarter 60-day delinquency rate came in at 0.58 percent, down from 0.60 percent in a year earlier.

Furthermore, Experian confirmed that vehicle repossessions also dropped, coming in at 0.43 percent in Q2. In the second quarter of last year, repossessions settled at 0.59 percent, which translated into a 27.9-percent drop year-over-year.

“Consumers continue to do an excellent job of paying back their vehicle loans in a timely fashion, and that’s good news for everyone in the industry,” stated Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive lending for Experian Automotive.

“Both 30- and 60-day delinquencies are at historic lows, and the percentage of money at risk has dropped as well,” Zabritski continued. “This gives lenders needed stability, which filters through the auto industry to consumers in the form of easier-to-obtain loans.”

Experian also discovered total balances of loan portfolios also rose for all types of lending organizations in the second quarter, reaching $682 billion. That figure is compared to $646 billion a year earlier.

Despite this strong growth, analysts acknowledged overall loan balances still lag behind prerecession levels. In the second quarter of 2007, outstanding loan balances reached $701 billion.

“Automotive loan portfolios continued their strong comeback in Q2 2012, as delinquencies continued to drop and total dollar volumes continued to rise,” Zabritski said.

“Since the automotive loan industry is highly interdependent between banks and retailers, this continued strong performance for loan portfolios is good for automotive retailers and consumers alike,” she went on to say.

Complete findings from the State of the Automotive Finance Market Q2 2012 credit trends analysis will be presented in a Webinar at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Sept. 6.

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.

The report 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.