I recall reading an article by someone or other which argued that auto loans cannot be a bubble in the way that stocks or houses have been, because generally there is not demand for cars by people who simply want to flip them for a higher price. Everybody who buys a car is buying a depreciating asset because they actually want to use it, so demand cannot get too out of control.
Interesting argument. Isn't the product being "flipped" the loans, and not the autos themselves?
Yes, but I can see the argument where its harder to loan out the same vehicle multiple times for ever-higher valuations given that autos depreciate pretty rapidly.
The problem wasn't houses, it was that the loans. It can't fuck the global economy, but car loans sure can screw with financial institutions that throw caution to the wind and start giving the equivalent of NINJA loans for cars