OREANDA-NEWS. As part of its ongoing surveillance, Fitch Ratings has taken the following rating actions the Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust (SDART) 2012-4, 2013-3, 2013-5 and 2014-5 transactions:

2012-4
--Class C affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class D upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class E affirmed at 'BBBsf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable.

2013-3
--Class B affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class C upgraded to 'AAAsf' from 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class D affirmed at 'Asf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class E affirmed at 'BBBsf'; Outlook Stable.

2013-5
--Class A-3 affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class B affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class C upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class D upgraded to 'Asf' from 'BBBsf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class E upgrade to 'BBBsf' from 'BBsf'; Outlook Stable.

2014-5
--Class A-2a affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class A-2b affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class A-3 affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class B affirmed at 'AAsf'; Outlook revised to Positive Stable;
--Class C affirmed at 'Asf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class D affirmed at 'BBBsf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable;
--Class E affirmed at 'BBsf'; Outlook Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The rating actions are based on available credit enhancement and loss performance. The collateral pools continue to perform within Fitch's expectations. Under the credit enhancement structures, the securities are able to withstand stress scenarios consistent with the recommended ratings and make full payments to investors in accordance with the terms of the documents.

To date, the transactions have exhibited strong performance with losses within Fitch's initial expectations, with rising loss coverage and multiple levels consistent with the recommended ratings. A material deterioration in performance would have to occur within the asset pool to have potential negative impact on the outstanding ratings.

For the 2012-4, 2013-3 and 2013-5 transactions, Fitch revised its loss proxies downward, as losses are currently extrapolating below Fitch's prior base case loss proxies assigned at the last review of the transaction. Based on current loss trends, Fitch expects CNL for all three transactions to be in the 12%-15% range. Fitch maintained the proxy utilized at the initial review for the 2014-5 transaction due to the lower amortization to date.

The upgrades reflect the improved loss coverage available to the notes. Further, Fitch will continue to monitor all four transactions and may take additional rating actions in the future. The ratings reflect the quality of Santander Consumer USA, Inc.'s retail auto loan originations, the adequacy of its servicing capabilities, and the sound financial and legal structure of the transaction.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Unanticipated increases in the frequency of defaults and loss severity could produce loss levels higher than the current projected base case loss proxies and impact available loss coverage and multiples levels for both transactions. Lower loss coverage could impact ratings and Rating Outlooks, depending on the extent of the decline in coverage.

In 2012-4, 2013-3 and 2013-5, the class E notes show limited sensitivity to the back-ended loss timing scenario. In the 2014-5 transaction, the class E notes do exhibit a slight decline in the loss coverage multiple under a back-ended loss timing scenario. All notes senior the class E notes in all four transactions show muted growth in net loss coverage under a back-ended loss timing scenario. Despite the slight decline for the 2014-5 transaction, the net loss coverage multiple under the back ended scenario for the class E is still in excess of the recommended multiple for 'BBsf'.

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

Fitch's analysis of the Representation and Warranties (R&W) of the transactions in this review can be found in the respective appendices to each presale report. These R&W are compared to those of typical R&W for the asset class as detailed in the special report 'Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions' dated June 12, 2015.