Prime auto ABS

The collateral for GMCAR Trust 2019-1 features a higher weighted average borrower FICO than any prior GM Financial deal; it also sports a lower projected cumulative net losses from Fitch Ratings.

Loans with terms of more than five years represent around 65% of the pool of collateral, down from 67% and 68% for the two prior transaction - but still higher than exposure in 2017 and 2016 transactions.

American Honda Finance's fourth auto-loan securitization of the year also features borrowers with higher scores and larger loans.

VW Credit is also adding more Audi-brand vehicles to VALET 2018-2 compared to its earlier 2018 transaction that renewed a long-dormant ABS shelf.

S&P considers the $1.034 billion lease securitization among the "most diversified" in lease-end concentrations, limiting the impact of future declines in residual values as cars come off lease.

Toyota Motor Credit Co.'s fourth prime auto loan securitization of the year boosts its volume beyond $6 billion.

Even with advanced seasoning and lighter risk load, the bank's first auto-loan securitization of the year has much higher CE than a weaker 2017 pool.

Higher-cost loans, less seasoning and rising APRs have pushed average loan balances beyond $28K.

The transaction's note size is to be determined, but is backed by €750M in lease-backed receivables, compared to €1.5 billion in VW's most recent German lease ABS in May.

Over three-quarters of loans in the €861.3 million transaction are loans in which borrowers are scheduled to repay almost half the principal in its final installment.

The captive-finance lenders will be the leading issuers of U.S. auto lease-backed securitizations in 2017 at the close of their latest deals launched this week.

More than 88% of contracts in the $800 million transaction have terms of less than 40 months; Fitch points to the increased the use of subvention at Toyota dealerships.

Jeff Weinstein and Patrick Lampe join from the Chicago office of Sidley Austin; Morgan Lewis partner Philip Russell is relocating from the firm’s New York office.

Volkswagen Bank's Driver 15 is its first German auto-loan securitization since March, as Europe's largest auto-finance company furthers a comeback from the 2015 VW diesel-engine scandal.

SUVs account for 41.3% of receivables backing HAROT 2018-3; that's up from 37.9% of Honda's prior deal and the first time exposure has increased since early 2017.

Credit metrics for the $799.9 million deal are better, by some measures, but rating agencies are concerned that delinquencies in the $10.2 billion managed portfolio are slightly higher, year-on-year.

The U.S. captive finance arms of Nissan North America and Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz) have joined CarMax in sponsoring prime-loan asset-backed portfolios adding to a deal spree totaling $61.3 billion so far in 2018.

New collateral can be added to the $824.2M Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust REV 2018-2 until 2023; that's two years less than the revolving period on its prior deal, completed in January.

As more new-vehicle buyers flock to General Motors' high-ticket trucks and SUVs, GM Financial has to supply riskier 60-plus month loans to finance them. That's prompting higher net ABS loss projections from Fitch.

With sales recovering from the the fading diesel-engine emissions scandal from 2015, Volkswagen's U.S. captive finance arm is inviting prime auto-loan investors out for a drive for the first time since 2014.