Fitch: U.S. Auto ABS Delinquencies Remain 20% Over '02.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2003

While Fitch Ratings' prime delinquency index, which measures 60-or-more-day delinquencies on auto loan collateral supporting asset-backed securities (ABS), improved to 0.59% in March from 0.74% in February, it remained 20% higher than a year earlier, according to the latest edition of the Fitch auto ABS newsletter published today.

Fitch's subprime delinquency index retreated in March to 2.87%, dropping approximately 13% from February's level.

'Historically, subprime delinquencies tend to be at their lowest in March and April, likely in response to the arrival of tax return checks from the government,' said Thomas Nieliwocki, director, Fitch Ratings. 'Unfortunately, other credit trends also indicate that delinquencies will shift upward again in the following months.'

Unlike delinquencies, cumulative net losses on defaulted auto loans trended upward for the sixth month in a row, with Fitch's cumulative net loss index closing at 1.11% in March, compared to 1.09% in February. Losses continued to be adversely affected by soft wholesale values of used cars.

Auto ABS issuance in March continued at a good pace, with seven transactions coming to market. Total auto ABS issuance reached the $20 billion mark in March, with prime public ABS transactions just more than $13 billion in the first quarter of 2003. Auto ABS has claimed a 17% share of the total ABS market in the first quarter.

The new Fitch report titled 'In the Auto ABS Driver's Seat' is available to all investors on Fitch's web site, 'www.fitchratings.com' in the newsletters section corresponding with the ABS sector or by contacting Sara Grohl at 1-212-908-0564 or via e-mail, '[e-mail]'. For more information about Fitch's comprehensive subscription service FitchResearch, which includes all presale reports, surveillance, and credit reports on more than twenty asset classes, contact product sales at 1-212-908-0800 or at '[e-mail]'.