More Americans are falling behind on their auto loan payments. Here's why.

Americans continue to fall behind on auto loan payments in the face of record-high car prices and high interest rates.

A recent study by VantageScore found that auto loan delinquency rates have increased by more than 50% over the past 15 years. The upward trend continues even as delinquency rates in other loan categories — including credit card loans, personal loans and home equity loans — have declined, according to the report.

"Back in 2010, auto loans were the least risky of all products at that point in time," Rikard Bandebo, chief economist at VantageScore, said in a recent video . "Now, as we look at 2025, it's actually — excluding student loans — the riskiest credit product."

While a growing number of Americans have been falling behind on car payments for years,