DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust 2016-1

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) has today assigned provisional ratings to the following classes issued by Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust 2016-1:

-- Class A Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class B Notes rated A (sf)
-- Class C Notes rated BBB (sf)
-- Class D Notes rated BB (sf)

The ratings are based on a review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:
-- Transaction capital structure, proposed ratings and form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement. The transactions benefit from credit enhancement in the form of OC, subordination, amounts held in the reserve fund and excess spread. Credit enhancement levels are sufficient to support DBRS-projected expected cumulative net loss (CNL) assumptions 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 principal by the legal final maturity date.
-- Exeter’s capabilities with regards to originations, underwriting, servicing and ownership by the Blackstone Group (Blackstone), Navigation Capital Partners, Inc. (Navigation Capital) and Goldman Sachs Vintage Fund.
-- DBRS has performed an operational review of Exeter and considers the entity to be an acceptable originator and servicer of subprime automobile loan contracts with an acceptable backup servicer.
-- Exeter senior management team has considerable experience and a successful track record within the auto finance industry.
-- The credit quality of the collateral and performance of Exeter’s auto loan portfolio.
-- The improvement of performance demonstrated in monthly origination vintage static pools and improving pool statistics.
-- 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 Exeter, and that the trust has a valid first-priority security interest in the assets and the consistency with the DBRS methodology Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance.

Please see the attached appendix for additional information regarding sensitivity of assumptions used in the rating process.

Notes:
The applicable methodology is Rating U.S. Retail Auto Loan Securitizations (December 2014), which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The Rule 17g-7 Report of Representations and Warranties is hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

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

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

DBRS’s rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available at www.dbrs.com.