According to data Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke shared on Tuesday, subprime auto finance portfolios might not be doing so well.

Smoke reported that the subprime severe delinquency rate for March was 50 basis points higher year-over-year, as 7.25% of subprime contracts were severely delinquent in March.

While that’s down from 7.99% in February, Smoke indicated it’s the highest rate for March dating back to at least 2006.

“The delinquency rate was high throughout 2023 but did not lead to a similarly record level of defaults,” Smoke wrote in his weekly blog post. “However, defaults increased in March by 8.5% from February and were up 33.4% year-over-year.”

The Cox Automotive expert went on to mention the annualized default rate for subprime financing stood at 3.40%, which was 26 basis points higher than February and higher than the 2.90% annualized default rate in March 2019.

Smoke added the year-to-date default rate currently sits at 3.23%, which is equivalent to the default rate in 2010.

Looking at the entire auto-finance space, Smoke reported 1.88% of outstanding contracts were severely delinquent In March. He said that’s down from 2.04% in February and was the highest rate for March, dating back to at least 2006.

The industry likely will want to know more about these trends, which is why the National Automotive Finance Association is having Smoke appear as a part of its 28th annual Non-Prime Auto Financing Conference. The event is scheduled for June 5-7 in Fort Worth, Texas.

More details about the conference can be found via this website.