Study Supports Race-Bias Suit Against Honda Auto
Honda let dealers charge minorities more for loans
American Honda Finance Corp. discriminated against African-American and Latino car buyers from 1999 to 2003 by allowing Honda dealers to charge them higher car loan costs than they charged comparable white buyers, according to a study by a Vanderbilt University business professor. The lawsuit, one of several class actions filed against major auto financiers in recent years, alleges that Honda discriminated against black car buyers by charging them higher interest rates when they financed their cars at dealerships through the lending arm. The study by Vanderbilt University business professor Mark A. Cohen found that 43.3 percent of Honda's African American borrowers were charged a markup, compared with 22.2 percent of white borrowers. Of those charged a markup, blacks paid an average $557, compared with $227 for whites. The study found that the disparities occurred even when borrowers of different races had the same creditworthiness. [ more] and [ more]
American Honda Finance Corp. discriminated against African-American and Latino car buyers from 1999 to 2003 by allowing Honda dealers to charge them higher car loan costs than they charged comparable white buyers, according to a study by a Vanderbilt University business professor. The lawsuit, one of several class actions filed against major auto financiers in recent years, alleges that Honda discriminated against black car buyers by charging them higher interest rates when they financed their cars at dealerships through the lending arm. The study by Vanderbilt University business professor Mark A. Cohen found that 43.3 percent of Honda's African American borrowers were charged a markup, compared with 22.2 percent of white borrowers. Of those charged a markup, blacks paid an average $557, compared with $227 for whites. The study found that the disparities occurred even when borrowers of different races had the same creditworthiness. [ more] and [ more]