Why one of the nation's largest auto lenders isn't worried about high vehicle prices or 'forever loans'

Used cars are offered for sale at a dealership on July 11, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | The head of one of the nation's largest auto finance lenders isn't overly concerned about rising consumer automotive debt and inflated used car prices leading to longer loans on vehicle purchases. His main reasoning? The percentage of income consumers are spending on their vehicles has remained relatively flat compared with 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic led to inflated pricing as demand surged but inventories stayed low. "If I just told you, 'Car prices going up, interest rates going up, insurance prices going up,' you would say, 'You know what, consumers must be paying more as a ratio to the income,'" Capital One Auto President Sanjiv Yajnik told CNBC. "However, if you look at every quintile of salary and earnings of people, the payment-to-income ratio has remained fairly flat." While Capital One reports median monthly car ownership payments have jumped from $390 to $525 since 2019, data provided exclusively to CNBC from its automotive unit suggest that vehicle costs have stayed relatively stable compared with income. That's because, overall, the payment-to-income ratio has remained flat at approximately 10% since 2019, according to the automotive arm of the American bank. Capital One Auto found 80% of car purchasers who finance a vehicle are below the generally recognized payment to income threshold of 15%. "The consumer is being cautious. They're being responsible. …