You can’t keep layering more and more burden on the consumer. Eventually, somethings gotta give.
Wages have been stagnant for the past six years, but in that time, the consumer has had to absorb the costs of the following policies:
Biofuel Mandate increasing cost of both Gas and Food
Additional required equipment on automobiles
Artificial shortage of used cars caused by Cash for Clunkers
Obamacare
Artificial water shortages in agricultural areas
Rising electric rates from the War on Coal
For people living paycheck to paycheck, these costs wind up on the credit card, because there is no other way to pay for them.
I agree with you, but I’m hard pressed to look upon statistics related to new car financing as evidence of consumers in distress. It sounds more like the bigger problem is consumers who don’t know how to manage their own expectations.