Latest Fed move could push auto interest rates to levels not seen in 21 years

Edmunds executive director of insights Jessica Caldwell and Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke made comments before and after the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates higher again on Wednesday.

The latest 75-point rise pushed the year-to-date increase in the target rate to 375 basis points, which Smoke pointed out as the most in any single year since 1981.

Both Caldwell and Smoke arrived at the same assertions that subprime and other budget-constricted consumers are going to …