Transportation
Underwater Car Loans Hit Four-Year High in New Sign of Distress
A decline in budget models has forced some buyers to turn to used cars or hold onto their older vehicles longer, with the average age of cars on the road now topping a dozen years, according to researcher S&P Global.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergA rising number of Americans are trading in vehicles worth less than what they owe, the latest sign of stress in the automotive industry.
Just over 28% of trade-ins toward new-car purchases carried negative equity, the highest level since the first quarter of 2021, according to data released Wednesday by automotive research firm Edmunds.com. The amount owed on those so-called underwater loans was $6,905 in the latest quarter, a record high.