DBRS Morningstar Assigns Rating to Cars Alliance Auto Loans France Master, Series 2021-04, Class A Notes and Discontinues Rating on Series 2020-10, Class A Notes

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) assigned a AAA (sf) rating to the EUR 259.8 million Series 2021-04, Class A Notes (the Class A Notes) issued by Cars Alliance Auto Loans France Master (the Issuer). The rating was assigned following the issuance of the notes on the 21 April 2021 payment date. As of the payment date, all portfolio revolving conditions had been met. Additionally, DBRS Morningstar discontinued its AAA (sf) rating on the EUR 248.3 million Series 2020-10, Class A Notes because of full repayment.

The rating on the Class A Notes addresses the timely payment of interest and the ultimate repayment of principal by the legal final maturity date in August 2034.

The Issuer is a master trust securitisation backed by a pool of auto loan receivables related to new and used motor vehicles originated and serviced by Diac S.A., a French subsidiary of RCI Banque SA. The transaction’s revolving period extends until the July 2024 payment date, subject to certain portfolio conditions being met. During the revolving period, the Issuer may acquire additional receivables and issue a further series of Class A Notes with a different expected maturity date.

The transaction closed on 25 May 2012. Since closing, replenishment of the underlying receivables has met the portfolio’s revolving conditions on each payment date.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the April 2021 payment date, loans that were 30 to 60 days delinquent and 60 to 90 days delinquent represented 0.4% and 0.1% of the portfolio net discounted balance, respectively. The cumulative gross default ratio was 1.5% of the aggregate original portfolios, with cumulative principal recoveries of 74.9% to date.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY RATING DRIVERS
DBRS Morningstar maintained its base case probability of default (PD) and loss given default (LGD) based on the worst-case portfolio composition at 3.1% and 54.2%, respectively.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
The subordination of the Class B Notes and the cash reserve provides credit enhancement to the Class A Notes. As of the April 2021 payment date, credit enhancement to the Class A Notes was 14.2%.

The structure includes an amortising cash reserve account, which is available to cover senior expenses and missed interest payments on the Class A Notes. This account is currently funded with EUR 12.0 million, with a target balance equal to 1.0% of the aggregate notes’ balance. In a stressed scenario where DBRS Morningstar assumes no collections, the cash reserve would cover approximately six months of senior fees and interest payments on the Class A Notes.

Société Générale, S.A. acts as the account bank for the transaction. Based on the reference rating of Société Générale, S.A. at AA (low), which is one notch below its DBRS Morningstar Long Term Critical Obligations Rating of AA, the downgrade provisions outlined in the transaction documents, and other mitigating factors inherent in the transaction structure, DBRS Morningstar considers the risk arising from the exposure to Société Générale, S.A. to be consistent with the ratings assigned to the notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

For more information regarding structured finance rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/358308.

For more information on DBRS Morningstar considerations for European ABS transactions and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following commentary: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/360734.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the rating is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (8 February 2021).

A review of the transaction legal documents was not conducted as the documents have remained unchanged since the most recent rating action.

In DBRS Morningstar’s opinion, the changes under consideration do not warrant the application of the entire principal methodology. Given the master trust structure, no asset or cash flow analysis was conducted, as the asset portfolio complies with the composition limits set forth in the transaction legal documents and current transaction performance is within expectations.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release. These may be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to “Appendix C: The Impact of Sovereign Ratings on Other DBRS Morningstar Credit Ratings” of the “Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments” at:
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/364527/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The sources of data and information used for this rating include monthly investor reports provided by EuroTitrisation (the Management Company).

DBRS Morningstar did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis.

At the time of the initial rating, DBRS Morningstar was not supplied with third-party assessments. However, this did not impact the rating analysis.

DBRS Morningstar considers the data and information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating to be of satisfactory quality.

DBRS Morningstar does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the rating process.

This rating concerns a newly issued financial instrument. This is the first DBRS Morningstar rating on this financial instrument.

The last rating action on this transaction took place on 15 April 2021, when DBRS Morningstar confirmed its AAA (sf) ratings on the Series 2020-10, Series 2020-11, Series 2020-12, Series 2021-01, Series 2021-02, and Series 2021-03, Class A Notes.

Information regarding DBRS Morningstar ratings, including definitions, policies, and methodologies, is available on www.dbrsmorningstar.com.

To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the rating, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios, as compared with the parameters used to determine the rating (the base case):

-- DBRS Morningstar expected a base case PD and LGD for the portfolio based on a review of the current assets. Adverse changes to asset performance may cause stresses to base case assumptions and, therefore, have a negative effect on credit ratings.

-- The base case PD and LGD of the current pool of receivables are 3.1% and 54.2%, respectively.

-- The risk sensitivity overview below illustrates the ratings expected if the PD and LGD increase by a certain percentage over the base case assumption. For example, if the LGD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class A Notes would be expected to fall to AA (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class A Notes would be expected to fall to AA (sf), assuming no change in the LGD. Furthermore, if both the PD and LGD increase by 50%, the rating of the Class A Notes would be expected to fall to A (sf).

Class A Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AA (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of AA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of AA (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating of AA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of AA (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (sf)

For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: https://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml.

DBRS Morningstar understands further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates may be published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its webpage: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/credit-rating-agencies.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Petter Wettestad, Senior Analyst
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 25 May 2012

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The rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (6 April 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/376314/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (8 February 2021),
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373435/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (19 November 2020),
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/370270/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-servicers.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators (30 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/367603/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-originators.
-- Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations (3 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/366294/rating-european-consumer-and-commercial-asset-backed-securitisations.
--Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (21 July 2020),
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/364305/rating-european-structured-finance-transactions-methodology.
-- DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (3 February 2021),
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/278375.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at [email protected].