MCLEAN, Va. — Capital One’s grew its auto finance business by $1.2 billion to $26.4 billion in third quarter despite a quarterly drop in originations. Auto originations totaled $3.90 billion during the third quarter, falling from first- and second-quarter totals of $4.30 and $4.27 billion, respectively. But they were up from a year ago, when originations totaled $3.40 billion.

From the second to third quarter, auto finance loans grew $1.4 billion, or 6 percent, to $25.9 billion, which company officials attributed to strong growth in the business. Additionally, Capital One’s net charge-off rate for auto increased 68 basis points, which the company attributed to seasonality. The business unit’s period-end loans held for investment also jumped from $25.25 billion in the second quarter and from $20.42 billion in the year-ago period to $26.43 billion.

The performance of its auto division contributed to Capital One’s 14 percent increase in total revenue, which came in at $5.8 billion.