Auto ABS

Spreads are expected to come in ranging from 15 basis points over the 3M I-Curve on the A1 notes to 160 bps over the benchmark on the class D notes.

Initial overcollateralization is 11.3%, up from 8.50% of the initial collateral pool balance. Aside from that adjustment, target overcollateralization is 22.45%, compared to 13.00% on Westlake 2023-4 deal.

Although the notes are supported by non-prime assets, Banco Santander sits at the top of the transaction's ownership chain and has a stable long-term, senior unsecured debt rating of A2.

HBAN will service the transaction, with an A3 rating for long-term, senior unsecured debt, an A2 long-term credit assessment, and P-1 for short-term deposits.

The notes benefit from total hard target credit enhancement of 16.50%, with an estimated 4.02% in estimated excess spread per year.

Like a growing number of auto ABS deals, the pool has more battery electric vehicles, which represent 10.6% of the pool, compared with 3.8% on the previous deal, FCAOT REV 2023-1.

In the current pool, some 77.4% for all three pools are composed of tier A loans. This is slightly higher than the concentrations of tier A loans seen in several previous deals.

Issuance has been scant since DRIVE 2021-3 closed in November 2021. A lack of comparison deals from recent years makes it more difficult to forecast losses.

The underlying loans are fixed rate, and they are financing a lower percentage of new vehicles, 22.8%. The loans also have a lower weighted average front-end loan-to-value (LTV) of 95.5%.

With a potential upsize to $1.3 billion, series 2024-1 features a potential floating-rate tranche benchmarked to the 30-day compounded Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).