Credit availability for vehicle purchases diminished in January to its tightest level since June 2021, Cox Automotive reported.

Its Dealertrack Credit Availability Index for all vehicle types fell 1% from December’s level to 98.0.

Credit access was 3.9% tighter year-over-year. Compared to February 2020, just before the pandemic descended in the West, access was tighter by 1.2%, Cox said.

The subprime share fell from 11% in December to 10.3% and was down 1.5 percentage points year-over-year. Still, consumer terms were lengthened and the approval rate rose 0.2 percentage points but was down 1.9 percentage points year-over-year. Down payments stayed at a record high, the average percentage up 1.8 percentage points year-over-year.

Most loan types tightened in January; only used-vehicle loans through independent dealers were looser. Certified preowned loans tightened most.

The Dealertrack index is baselined to January 2019 to track credit access changes over time.

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