OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has upgraded E-CARAT 3 plc's (E-CARAT) class B notes and affirmed the class A notes, as follows:

GBP155.7m class A notes: affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Stable Outlook
GBP23.7m class B notes: upgraded to 'AA+sf' from 'AAsf'; Positive Outlook
GBP25.6m Subordinated note: Not rated

E-CARAT is a securitisation of auto loan receivables originated by GMAC (UK) plc (the seller and servicer). The securitised portfolio consists of secured, fixed rate loans advanced to UK residents for the purchase of new (79.0%) and used (21.0%) vehicles at closing.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
Robust Asset Performance
As of end-December 2015, the outstanding class A notes accounted for 36.6% of their initial balance. Loans in arrears have remained below 1% with 30+ days delinquencies currently at 0.6%. Recoveries are in line with the agency's base case assumption of 53.3%. Cumulative defaults (0.46%) are below our point in time expectations of 0.76%.

Increasing Credit Enhancement (CE)
CE takes into account the reserve fund and the overcollateralisation provided by the subordinated note. It increased for the class A notes to 25.8% in December 2015 from 12.3% at closing in March 2014. The class B notes' CE increased to 14.3% from 7.3% at closing

Fitch has revised its lifetime default base for E-CARAT 3 to 1.50% from 1.75% with all other assumptions remaining the same.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Expected impact upon the note rating of increased defaults (class A/B):
Current ratings: 'AAAsf'/'AA+sf'
Increase base case defaults by 25%: 'AAAsf'/'AA+sf'

Expected impact upon the note rating of reduced recoveries (class A/B):
Current Ratings: 'AAAsf'/'AA+sf'
Reduce base case recovery by 25%: 'AAAsf'/'AA+sf'

Expected impact upon the note rating of increased defaults and reduced recoveries (class A/B):
Current Ratings: 'AAAsf'/'AA+sf'
Increase base case defaults and reduce base case recoveries by 25%: 'AAAsf'/'AAsf'

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE
No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

DATA ADEQUACY
Fitch has checked the consistency and plausibility of the information it has received about the performance of the asset pool and the transaction. There were no findings that were material to this analysis. Fitch has not reviewed the results of any third party assessment of the asset portfolio information or conducted a review of origination files as part of its ongoing monitoring.

Prior to the transaction closing, Fitch reviewed the results of a third party assessment conducted on the asset portfolio information, which indicated no adverse findings material to the rating analysis.

Prior to the transaction closing, Fitch conducted a review of a small targeted sample of the origination files and found the information contained in the reviewed files to be adequately consistent with the originator's policies and practices and the other information provided to the agency about the asset portfolio.

Overall Fitch's assessment of the information relied upon for the agency's rating analysis according to its applicable rating methodologies indicates that it is adequately reliable.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION
The information below was used in the analysis.
-Investor Report provided by GMAC UK plc as at end-December 2015
-Loan level data provided by GMAC UK plc as at end-December 2015