SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — As new-vehicle leasing hit record levels,
Experian Automotive's latest analysis showed how much momentum the subprime
finance sector gained during the first quarter.

According to its State of the Automotive Finance Market
report released on Tuesday, Experian found that the market share for finance
companies — lenders such as Santander Consumer USA and Credit Acceptance — rose
5.1 percent from a year ago to 15.5 percent of the entire market.

Meanwhile, Experian found that buy-here, pay-here financing softened
6.4 percent year-over-year, setting at a 10.7 percent market share.

All told, Experian indicated loans going to consumers with
credit outside of prime (nonprime, subprime and deep subprime) jumped to 45.2
percent of the overall loan market in Q1, up from 44.4 percent in Q1 2012.

For new vehicles, the share of these loans jumped to 25.1 percent
in Q1 from 23.2 percent in Q1 of last year.

For used vehicles, nonprime, subprime and deep subprime
loans accounted for 57.7 percent market share in Q1 2013, up from 56.8 percent
in Q1 a year ago.

In other trends:

—The average credit score for a new-vehicle loan dropped to
755 in Q1 2013, down from 760 in Q1 2012

—The average credit score for a used-vehicle loan dropped to
657 in Q1 2013, down from 659 in Q1 2012

—Banks had 39.5 percent market share, down 1.7 percent from
Q1 2012

—Captive finance companies had 17.3 percent market share, up
3.4 percent from Q1 2012

—Credit unions had 16.7 percent market share, up 0.4 percent
from Q1 2012

Q1 Leasing Reaches Record High

In other industry trends, Experian determined new-vehicle
leasing during the first quarter rose to the highest level since the firm began
tracking the data in 2006.

According to the report, analysts indicated leasing
accounted for a record 27.5 percent of all new vehicles financed during Q1. The
level jumped 12.5 percent from the year-ago mark of 24.4 percent.

Additionally, findings from the report showed that the
average monthly payment for a new vehicle financed in Q1 was $459, down from
$462 a year earlier.

"Consumers tend to
shop for vehicles based within the limits of their budget, and leasing is often
seen as a viable path to a lower monthly payment," said Melinda Zabritski,
senior director of automotive credit at Experian.

"Lenders have seen overall stability come back to the market
since the recession, and leasing has gradually returned as a larger part of
many lender strategies," Zabritski said.

Zabritski will be one of the keynote speakers at this year's
new edition to Used Car Week, the SubPrime Forum, which will be conducted on
Nov. 12 and 13 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. More details can be
found at www.usedcarweek.biz.

Zabritski mentioned that while leasing a vehicle can help
consumers achieve a lower monthly payment, she pointed out the report also
showed a rise in loan term lengths (65 months in Q1 2013, up from 64 months in
Q1 2012) and a decrease in interest rates (4.5 percent in Q1 2013, down from
4.6 percent in Q1 2012), which helped to keep payments low for new vehicles
financed.

In Q1, the average loan amount for a new vehicle financed
increased by $628, going from $26,020 in Q1 2012 to $26,648 in Q1 2013.

The average used vehicle loan increased $461, going from
$17,071 in Q1 2012 to $17,532 in Q1 2013.

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