Fitch: Prime & Sub-prime Auto ABS Performance Indexes Produced Diverging Results in December.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2004

Prime and sub-prime Auto ABS performance indexes produced diverging results in December, as recorded in Fitch's "In the Auto ABS Driver's Seat" newsletter released recently. Consistent with seasonal factors, the prime auto ABS 60+ day delinquency index rose 9.3% during December to 0.58%. However, after posting its third consecutive monthly year-over-year drop, the index is now 15.2% lower than in 2002. Annualized net losses dropped almost 9% to 1.40% in December and are 5.60% lower on a year-over-year basis after posting improved performance in the last quarter of the year.

In the sub-prime sector, auto loan performance continues to be affected by slow economic recovery including lagging job creation. The 60+ Delinquency Index rose 3.3% to 3.41% in December and finished the year 4% higher than in 2002, on a year-over-year basis. Annualized net losses rose almost 5% to 9.96%, the highest figure recorded since inception of the index and remains 22% higher than in 2002.

Auto ABS issuance (auto loan, lease, rental, and all dealer floor-plan transactions) totaled $91.58 billion in 2003, 5.7% lower than in 2002 comprising 17.9% of all ABS issued during 2003. Issuance slowed in December with $2.51 billion coming to market. Issuance in 2003 was led by the foreign captives with 25.8% of the market, then "banks and independents" with 24.7%, followed only then by the domestics with 23.2% of the market.

The latest edition of 'In the Auto ABS Driver's Seat,' a monthly newsletter that tracks retail auto loan performance, auto industry trends, and developments in the auto ABS securitization market, is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com' in the 'Newsletters' section corresponding with the 'ABS' sector page, or by contacting the Ratings Desk at [phone].