Just about a year ago, I wrote in these pages that credit unions must have felt like they were riding a roller coaster with their auto lending programs. After all, their market share had gone up and down as the overall auto lending industry had several chaotic years.

However, a close look at the numbers this year gives me a slightly different perspective. Yes, market share continues on a somewhat wild ride, and this year credit unions took advantage. Their overall market share was up to 17.34% in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 4.9% increase over the fourth quarter of 2010, while their share of the used loan market reached 21.1%, a 5.7 % year-over-year increase. However, what really struck me was the consistency that credit unions have maintained, despite the industry's overall volatility.

Overall, credit unions have maintained a strategy of making loans to customers with much higher credit scores. During the fourth quarter of 2011, credit union customers had an average 766 credit score for new vehicle loans and an average 718 credit score on used vehicle loans. This compared to industry averages of 761 for new vehicle loans and 670 for used vehicle loans.