U.S. consumers sought less credit in 2020, and lenders were less likely to extend it, the New York Federal Reserve said this week to the surprise of no one. The Fed's latest credit access survey found that consumer appetite for credit cards and auto loans waned as the pandemic spread, closed down most of the country at various intervals and sent millions of Americans to the unemployment line.
The share of households confident in their ability to scrape together $2,000 in case of an emergency fell to the lowest figure ever tracked in the study — 65.6 percent. The percentage of consumers applying for auto loans also dropped, by 3.2 percentage points, between February and October to 11.6 percent, another low for the N.Y. Fed survey.
There's no shame in admitting the year was terrible. Dealerships faced the pandemic with resiliency and innovation, turning to digital tools, reorganizing staffs and changing hours and responsibilities. The industry re…