Even one of the experts who specializes in the certified pre-owned vehicle market and is set to appear at Used Car Week for the fifth year in a row joined the discussion about what moves the Federal Reserve might make associated with interest rates.

Joe Derkos, director of the Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates, touched on interest rates during a Used Car Week sneak peek webinar hosted by Paul Potratz, chief operating officer of Potratz Advertising.

“Who knows really in the short run if and when that rate increase will occur. How big it will be is the real critical question,” Derkos said. “Directionally, I think the industry is bracing for that increase to come sooner rather than later.”

By the time Derkos appears at Used Car Week, perhaps the Fed will have made a decision since the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee begins on Wednesday. Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb also weighed in about the topic in this report from SubPrime Auto Finance News in which Stifel Nicolaus & Co. chief economist Lindsey Piegza called gathering “arguably the most widely anticipated event in the aftermath of the Great Recession.”

Meanwhile, Derkos again has a prime spot at Used Car Week, which includes the SubPrime Forum, the CPO Forum, the Re3 Conference and the National Remarketing Conference. Derkos, who is delivering the opening day keynote at Used Car Week on Nov. 16, will go into everything from an overall industry overview and the parallels between the new- and used-car markets to the top factors driving the pre-owned market, like extended-term financing, lease maturities and the impact of younger buyers and more subprime buyers.

During the recent webinar, interest rates weren’t the only finance oriented topic Derkos and Potratz broached. In light of Equifax reporting earlier this summer that total outstanding balances on vehicle installment contracts and leases surpassed $1 trillion, Potratz asked, “Is it that they’re buying more expensive vehicles or is it that all vehicles have increased in price?"

Derkos replied, “It’s really both. If you break it down year-over-year, it’s almost an even split between those two drivers. We do see a shift to larger, more expensive segments like pickup trucks. There’s been a lot of action there as well as SUVs.

“Additionally, everyone from the low end to the high end in terms of price are seeing their prices go up. In terms of technology, CAFE requirements, those costs are being passed on to the consumer in terms of higher prices,” Derkos continued.

“It sets the tone for the overall industry,” he went on to say during the webinar, which can be watched in its entirety through the window at the top of this page.

Potratz will be talking even more about auto finance when he hosts his next Used Car Week sneak peek webinar coming up at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 1. That’s when one of the keynote speakers for the SubPrime Forum will be the special guest, Melinda Zabritski, senior director at Experian Automotive. Finance companies executives and dealers can catch the online conversation by registering for the session here.

Zabritski has been one of the experts annually at the SubPrime Forum, which is orchestrated in partnership with the National Automotive Finance Association.

Used Car Week runs from Nov. 16-20 at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Ariz. To view conference agendas, make reservations for accommodations and more, go to www.usedcarweek.biz.