DBRS Finalizes Provisional Ratings on Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust 2015-C

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) has today finalized its provisional ratings on the following classes of notes issued by Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust 2015-C:

-- Class A-1 Notes rated R-1 (high) (sf)
-- Class A-2a Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class A-2b Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class A-3 Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class A-4 Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class B Notes rated AA (high) (sf)
-- Class C Notes rated AA (low) (sf)

The ratings are based on a review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:
-- Transaction capital structure, proposed ratings as well as form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- Credit enhancement is in the form of overcollateralization (OC), amounts held in the reserve fund, yield supplement OC amount and excess spread. Credit enhancement levels are sufficient to support the DBRS-projected expected cumulative net loss assumption under various stress scenarios.
-- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash flow assumptions and repay investors according to the terms under which they have invested. For this transaction, the rating addresses the payment of timely interest on a monthly basis and the payment of principal by the legal final maturity date.
-- The operational and brand strength of Ford Motor Company (FMC) and its related entities.
-- DBRS rates FMC and its related entities at BBB (low) with Stable trends.
-- The DBRS corporate rating recognizes the business profile of FMC as a highly established automotive manufacturer.
-- DBRS rates Ford Motor Credit Company LLC (Ford Credit) at BBB (low) with a Stable trend, which reflects the ownership and the strategic importance of Ford Credit to FMC as a provider of dealer and consumer auto financing.
-- The corporate rating considers that the predominant share of Ford Credit’s business consists of financing Ford vehicles and supporting Ford dealers.
-- The operational capabilities of Ford Credit with regards to originations, underwriting and servicing.
-- DBRS has performed an operational review of Ford Credit and considers the entity to be an acceptable originator and servicer of prime automobile loan contracts.
-- The strength of the collateral profile included in the Transaction collateral pool.
-- Consistent with previous Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust (FCAOT) transactions, the FCAOT 2015-C collateral pool demonstrates characteristics consistent with high-quality obligors and loans.
-- The quality and consistency of provided historical static pool data for Ford Credit originations, the performance of the Ford Credit auto loan portfolio, along with the stable and consistent performance of the FCAOT program.
-- The legal structure and presence of legal opinions that address the true sale of the assets to the Issuer, the non-consolidation of the special-purpose vehicle with Ford Credit, that the trust has a valid first-priority security interest in the assets and the consistency with DBRS’s “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance” methodology.

Notes:
This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The applicable methodology is Rating U.S. Retail Auto Loan Securitizations, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The full report providing additional analytical detail is available by clicking on the link or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.