US outstanding automotive loan balances reached a record $968 billion in the third quarter of 2015, growing by more than 53% since the post-recession low in 2010 according to research consultancy Experian Automotive, which says the figures are the highest since it started following the market in 2006.

Experian’s most recent State of the Automotive Finance Market report puts current loan balances up by 11% over the same period last year, posting a $98 billion increase.

“Continued growth in the automotive finance market is a clear sign of improved consumer confidence over the past few years,” said Melinda Zabritski, Experian’s senior director of automotive finance. “Since bottoming out in the recession, automotive sales have rebounded steadily, which is a good sign for consumers, automotive manufacturers, lending organizations and the overall economy.”

“What’s critical to this success is that consumers stay on top of their payments. If they can continue to manage their financial obligations and make timely payments, the automotive industry can continue to flourish and grow for quite some time,” Zabritski added.

According to Experian’s data, while the total amount of outstanding automotive loans has grown substantially, there are few signs of consumers coming under pressure. During the third quarter of 2015, 30-day delinquencies dropped to 2.5% from 2.7% a year earlier. Furthermore, 60-day delinquencies also declined slightly (from 0.74% to 0.73%) over the same time period.

The report also found that the largest increase in volume of open loans was in the super-prime category, rising 8.3% from the previous year. Sub-prime and non-prime followed closely, with increases of 7.8% and 7.7%, respectively.

Super-prime and prime made up 61% of open loans combined in the third quarter, while non-prime, sub-prime and deep sub-prime combined accounted for 39%.

Experian’s analysis also notes that the distribution of open loans by risk segment remains relatively unchanged, demonstrating that the surge in outstanding automotive financing is driven by consumers across the board, not a specific segment of the market.