Bailout has failed to boost auto loans

DETROIT, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The $700 billion bailout package hasn't helped banks loosen their credit standards for automobile loans, a credit analyst said.

"I haven't seen any impact yet. We're starting to see a little bit of a loosening but it has not been significant," Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit at Experian told The Detroit News Monday.

Lenders are taking a "wait and see" approach to the automotive industry with some only making loans to customers with perfect credit, the newspaper said.

A lack of credit availability has hurt sales numbers with truck and car sales falling 31.9 percent in October, compared with earlier years.

The 838,156 new vehicles sold in the United States in October was the worst sales month since January 1991, Autodata Corp. said.

"Banks would like to exit the market, but there are no willing buyers for their auto operations. So, banks are withdrawing from the business by slowing originations and winding down portfolios," Curt Beaudouin, a senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service, told the News.