SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Experian Automotive reviewed first-quarter data regarding open auto loans and found the better the credit standing, the more growth there has been as compared to the first quarter of 2009.

In fact, Experian indicated the only growth came within the super prime and prime categories at 2.69 percent and 2.34 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, subprime risk distribution is off 2.71 percent, and deep subprime has dipped even more at 7.62 percent.

Non-prime edged lower by just 0.72 percent, according to Experian.

The company defines the spectrum as:

Super prime

Scorex Plus: 740 plus

VantageScore: 801-990

Prime

Scorex Plus: 680-739

Vantage Score: 701-800

Non-prime

Scorex Plus: 620-679

VantageScore: 641-700

Subprime

Scorex Plus: 550-619

VantageScore: 601-640

Deep subprime

Scorex Plus: less than 550

VantageScore: 501-600

Not surprisingly, Experian found banks and captives represented the majority of a nearly $50 billion reduction in total outstanding auto loan balances during the first quarter of this year.

While the industry as a whole saw the amount shrink by $49.8 billion, Experian determined $24 billion of that total derived from captives while another $18 billion was attributed to banks. The firm made these comparisons from outstanding balance marks for the first quarter of 2009.

Nonetheless, banks still constituted the greatest share of the first-quarter outstanding balance figure that Experian noted as being more than $600 billion. Banks took up $233 billion of that total with captives coming in behind at $186 billion. Credit unions stood at $146 billion with finance companies and other entities composing $73 billion.

Meanwhile, another area of declines during the first quarter of this year is the amount of loans with a 30-day delinquency. Experian said the overall total slid down $3.2 billion this past quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2009. The industry-wide mark moved to 2.79 percent from 2.82 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Turning to 60-day delinquency rates, Experian determined the industry as a whole stood at 0.78 percent, nearly the same as the 2009 first-quarter mark that was 0.79 percent. All told, the balance is this category is about $1 billion lower compared to the previous year's first quarter.

Delving a bit deeper to analyze these kinds of delinquencies among consumers outside of prime, the highest saturation of those contracts reside in Louisiana at 2.61 percent. Experian shared the other top five states included Mississippi (2.44 percent), Alabama (2.42 percent), Vermont (2.28 percent) and Delaware (2.26 percent).

Experian also revealed the top 20 lenders by market share as of the first quarter:

Chase: 6.9 percent

Wells Fargo: 5.4 percent

Toyota: 5.3 percent

GMAC: 5.1 percent

Ford: 3.7 percent

Honda: 3.3 percent

Bank of America: 1.8 percent

Nissan/Infiniti: 1.7 percent

Capital One: 1.6 percent

Fifth Third Bank: 1.3 percent

US Bank: 1.3 percent

Santander: 1.2 percent

BMW Bank: 1.2 percent

Huntington National: 1.0 percent

Credit Acceptance: 0.9 percent

Suntrust Bank: 0.9 percent

AmeriCredit: 0.9 percent

USAA: 0.8 percent

BB&T: 0.8 percent

Citizens Auto: 0.8 percent

Moving on, top used-vehicle lenders include:

Wells Fargo: 6.2 percent

Chase: 4.7 percent

Toyota: 2.6 percent

GMAC: 2.1 percent

Capital One: 1.8 percent

Santander: 1.6 percent

Credit Acceptance: 1.3 percent

Bank of America: 1.2 percent

US Bank: 1.2 percent

Fifth Third Bank: 1.1 percent

Ford: 1.0 percent

CarMax: 1.0 percent

BMW Bank: 1.0 percent

AmeriCredit: 1.0 percent

Huntington National: 0.9 percent

Honda: 0.9 percent

USAA: 0.8 percent

Westlake Financial: 0.7 percent

BB&T: 0.7 percent

Navy FCU: 0.6 percent

Finally, top new-vehicle lenders include:

Chase: 11.8 percent

GMAC: 11.7 percent

Toyota: 11.0 percent

Ford: 9.3 percent

Honda: 8.6 percent

Nissan/Infiniti: 4.5 percent

Wells Fargo: 3.5 percent

Bank of America: 3.1 percent

Hyundai: 1.9 percent

World Omni: 1.9 percent

Fifth Third Bank: 1.7 percent

US Bank: 1.6 percent

BMW Bank: 1.5 percent

Suntrust Bank: 1.5 percent

Capital One: 1.3 percent

Mercedes-Benz: 1.2 percent

Citizens Auto: 1.1 percent

Volkswagen: 1.1 percent

Harris Bank: 1.1 percent

Huntington National: 1.0 percent