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BOARD OF GOVERNORS
OF THE
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
q#20

December 11, 1951
SALES FINANCE COMPANIES
OCTOBER 1951

R e t a i l f i n a n c i n g — P u r c h a s e s of r e t a i l a u t o m o t i v e p a p e r b y s a l e s f i n a n c e companies i n October
remained a l m o s t unchanged f r o m t h e p r e v i o u s month. The one p e r c e n t g a i n i n t o t a l d o l l a r volume r e f l e c t e d
i n c r e a s e s i n commercial and u s e d - c a r p a p e r t h a t were a l m o s t e n t i r e l y o f f s e t b y a d e c l i n e i n p u r c h a s e s of
new p a s s e n g e r c a r p a p e r »
O u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e s of r e t a i l a u t o m o t i v e p a p e r a t t h e end of October were one p e r c e n t below t h e
end of September, f i r s t month-to-month d e c l i n e s i n c e March.
R e t a i l f i n a n c i n g of o t h e r consumer goods i n c r e a s e d by 8 p e r c e n t i n October a f t e r h a v i n g d e c l i n e d
somewhat i n t h e p r e v i o u s month. A lU p e r c e n t d e c l i n e i n r e f r i g e r a t o r and o t h e r h o u s e h o l d a p p l i a n c e p a p e r
was more t h a n o f f s e t b y t h e s h a r p g a i n s i n o t h e r t y p e s of f i n a n c i n g .
O u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e s of p a p e r on consumer goods o t h e r t h a n a u t o m o b i l e s were p r a c t i c a l l y unchanged
from t h e p r e c e d i n g month.
R e t a i l F i n a n c i n g by S a l e s F i n a n c e Companies

C l a s s of r e t a i l p a p e r

P e r c e n t a g e change, September 1951 t o October 1951
Outstanding balances
Volume of p a p e r
Number
end of month
a c q u i r e d d u r i n g month
of c a r s
+ 2

+ 1

New
Used

- 5
+ 5

1 +

Commercial c a r s : New
Used

+ 6
+lh

+10
+1?

Automotive:

Total r e t a i l

Passenger cars:

Other consumer goods:

Total

Furniture, r a d i o s , t e l e v i s i o n s e t s , musical instruments
R e f r i g e r a t o r s and o t h e r h o u s e h o l d a p p l i a n c e s
R e s i d e n t i a l b u i l d i n g r e p a i r and m o d e r n i z a t i o n
Miscellaneous r e t a i l

+ 8

- 1

0

+32
-lit
+31
+10

Wholesale f i n a n c i n g — W h o l e s a l e a u t o m o t i v e p a p e r a c q u i r e d by s a l e s f i n a n c e companies i n c r e a s e d
s h a r p l y f r o m September and o u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e s of t h i s p a p e r a t t h e month-end were 5 p e r c e n t above t h e
l e v e l of t h e p r e v i o u s month.
Wholesale f i n a n c i n g of goods o t h e r t h a n a u t o m o b i l e s a l s o r o s e b u t b a l a n c e s o u t s t a n d i n g on t h i s
c l a s s of p a p e r d e c l i n e d .

NOTE.—October d a t a , b a s e d on r e t u r n s from 109 s a l e s f i n a n c e companies, a r e compiled i n t h e same
manner a s t h o s e shown i n e a r l i e r r e p o r t s . Aggregates r e p r e s e n t o n l y t h e t o t a l s f o r t h e r e p o r t i n g companies
and, s i n c e t h e r e p o r t i n g sample i s n o t i d e n t i c a l from month t o month, t h e y a r e n o t comparable w i t h t o t a l s
of p r e c e d i n g months.




Page 2
SALES FINANCE COMPANIES

Table 1.—Automotive and D i v e r s i f i e d F i n a n c i n g by S a l e s Finance Companies
Indexes of Outstanding B a l a n c e s : December 31, 1939 • 100 a /

Total
all
sales
financing

End of month
and y e a r

Retail
automotive

Wholesale
automotive

1939
191*0
192*1
1912
19U3
19hh
191*5
191*6
191*7
191*8
191*9
1950

22
59
119
171
228
291

325

27
90
163
252
216
296

1950-October..
November•
December#

288
291
291

331
328
325

280
296

1951-January.•
Februarye
March....
April....
May
June.....
July
August...
September
October..

287
286
290
29k
298
302
298
299
299
299

320
315
312
311

100
$
53
20

18

100
132
11*9
37
13
15
18

Wholesale
other
than
automotive

Retail
other
consumers'
goods

100
li»0

100
129
11*8
76
30
26
39
105
226

100
169
175
112
liO

250

Uo
8
11
38
22U
39U
U5U
332
516

i% 2
.177

21*0

1*35
1*78
516

188
182
177

291
306
356
382
1*01
Uo5
372
339
325
31*1

61*8

171
166
161
156
153
150
11*6
11*8
11*9
i5o

21*

1*2

316
321
321*
331
335
332

759
906
91*3
899
821*

737
638
599
568

__

a/

Indexes a s of December 31 f o r t h e y e a r s of 1939, 1940, and 1941 a r e based on f i g u r e s r e p o r t e d by
s a l e s f i n a n c e companies on a supplementary r e p o r t form which accompanied t h e r e g u l a r monthly Hep o r t form f o r J a n u a r y 1942, Succeeding i n d e x e s a r e d e r i v e d by c a l c u l a t i n g t h e p e r c e n t a g e
changes of t h e o u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e s r e p o r t e d by s a l e s f i n a n c e companies f o r each month from
t h o s e r e p o r t e d by t h e same companies f o r t h e p r e c e d i n g month, and by l i n k i n g t h e s e p e r c e n t a g e s
t o t h e i n d e x e s f o r t h e p r e c e d i n g month,

Table 2 . — R e l a t i v e Importance of Loans Made by S a l e s Finance Companies
During October 1951 and Outstanding Balances a t End of Month

Class of paper

Paper acquired
during month
Percentage
of t o t a l

Amount

Percentage
of t o t a l

$952,587,851

100

$3,699,925,669

100

87,1*33,352
23,317,1*65
61*, 115,887

9
2
7

21*6,782,632
129,823,280
116,959,352

7
h
3

865,151*,1*99

91

3,1*53,11*3,037

93

Amount
T o t a l , a l l c l a s s e s of paper a/%

Business loans

*/

Outstanding b a l a n c e s ,
end of month

I n c l u d e d i n t h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n a r e only t h o s e f i r m s w h i c h , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e i r s a l e s f i n a n c i n g
o p e r a t i o n s , r e p o r t e d loan a c t i v i t i e s .




Page 3
SALES FINANCE COMPANIES

Table 3.--Automotive and D i v e r s i f i e d Financing by Sales Finance Companies
Paper Acquired During October 1951 and Balances Outstanding at End of Month
Volume of paper acquired
during October 1951
Class of paper

Total wholesale - other than automotive...
Total r e t a i l - other consumers1 goods
Industrial, commercial, and farm equipment

a/
b/

By a l l
companies
reporting

By companies
reporting
outstanding
balances a /

Outstanding
balances
October 31,
1951 a /

Ratio paper
acquired t o
outstanding
balances ty

$31*8,792,057
li77,67l*,190
13,702,121
28,898,022
8,802,133

$318,118,625
1*77,523,257
13,679,37k
28,672,951
8,79li,ti52

$2,600,153,273
531,575,639
1*2,1*00,771
222,501,199
111,102,997

13
90
32
13
8

$877,868,523

$876,788,659

$3,507,733,879

25

Data are based on f i g u r e s from sales finance companies able t o report both t h e i r paper acquired and
t h e i r outstanding balances.
Ratios, obtained by dividing paper acquired (column 2) by outstanding balances (column 3 ) .
Table 4.—Number of Cars Financed and Volume of Paper Acquired
by Sales Finance Companies During October 1951
Paper

Number of cars
Number

New cars (passenger and commercial)..
Used cars (passenger and commercial).

Percentage
of t o t a l

acquired

11

Class of paper

287,21k

100

$299,965,373 v

8k,062
15,795
170,U6l
16,896

29
6
59
6

125,020,887
23,623,109
138,886,01*0
12,1.35,337

282,017

100

239,768
k2,2k9

85
15

$1*71,856,1*51* a /
1*29,730,908
1*2,125,51*6

Percentage
of t o t a l
100
h2
8
kS
h
100
91
9

a / Data are based on reports from sales finance companies providing a breakdown of their r e t a i l and
wholesale automotive financing. These amounts are l e s s than those reported in table 3 due to the
exclusion of some data for which breakdowns were not a v a i l a b l e .

Table 5.—Volume of Diversified Sales Financing During October 1951

Class of paper
Retail - other consumers' goods:
Furniture, radios, pianos, and other musical instruments..

of

Dollar volume
paper acquired

Percentage
of t o t a l

$ 7,1*60,755
8,236,556
U, 261*, 519
7,1*32,608

15
16
9
15

$27,391*,1*38 a /
13,702,121
8,802,133

55
27
18

$1*9,898,692

100

~a7 Data are based on reports from s a l e s finance companies providing a breakdown of t h e i r r e t a i l
financing of other consumers* goods. This amount i s l e s s than that reported i n table 3 due to the
exclusion of some data f o r which breakdowns were not a v a i l a b l e .