Wildfires spark deferral offers; funding off to strong 2025

The Auto Finance Roadmap

Wildfires impacting large areas of California are contributing to higher auto insurance costs in the state and more deferral offerings from lenders for affected borrowers.

The annual cost of full-coverage car insurance in California rose 47.8% year over year in December to $2,575, compare with the average cost across the U.S. of $2,313. The current fires started Jan. 7.

Meanwhile, lenders’ funding activity is off to a strong start in 2025 with several issuing asset-backed securitization (ABS) deals. Lendbuzz issued its first auto ABS deal of the year, joining a wave of transactions during the first two weeks.

Southern Auto Finance Co. also secured a $100 million warehouse facility with Deutsche Bank and extended its facility with Capital One.

Auto sales were strong in the fourth quarter of 2024 across the major manufacturers, and EV sales are poised to pick up in the first quarter of 2025 ahead of the presidential administration change.

In this episode of “Weekly Wrap,” Auto Finance News Editor Amanda Harris and associate editors Ashley Savage and James Van Bramer discuss the top stories and trends impacting the automotive industry for the week ended Jan. 10.