S&P Assigns Ratings to Household Automotive Trust 2001-1 Ser 2001-1

    NEW YORK, March 13 Standard & Poor's assigned its ratings
to Household Automotive Trust 2001-1 series 2001-1 notes (see list).
    The ratings are based on the credit support available to the notes, the
performance of Household Automotive Finance Corp.'s (HAFC) auto loan
receivables portfolio, and a sound legal structure.
    Credit support available to the noteholders is composed of
overcollateralization, a reserve account (partially funded at closing) and
excess spread. This is the 15th ACC/Household term deal, the sixth without
benefit of bond insurance.
    As in recent transactions, the class A-1 through A-4 notes will receive
interest on a pro rata basis and principal sequentially. Credit enhancement
begins at 32.00% of the initial pool balance, composed of a 1% reserve account
balance that grows to 3% of current, with a 2% of initial floor, and 31.00% in
overcollateralization, building to 34.25% of current, resulting in a targeted
total credit enhancement of 37.25% of the outstanding pool balance.
Significantly more excess spread allowed a 75 basis point reduction in credit
enhancement from the last transaction.
    Standard & Poor's reviews collateral characteristics and believes this
pool of loans to be of a comparable credit quality to recent securitized
pools. The loans consist of sub-prime retail installment sales contracts
secured by new and used automobiles, light duty trucks, and vans. The
receivables pool is made up of 59,963 auto loans. The originator targets
obligors who have had credit problems in the past and who have difficulty
obtaining credit from traditional lending sources.
    The originator and subservicer of the receivables is HAFC, the auto
finance subsidiary of Household International Inc. (single-'A'/Stable/A-1), a
leading consumer finance company. At Dec. 31, 2000, HAFC's serviced portfolio
consisted of 339,025 contracts, totaling approximately $4.5 billion, an
increase of 80% over the previous year, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire

    Ratings Assigned
    Household Automotive Trust 2001-1 Series 2001-1
    Issue                                    Amount ($)        Rating
    Class A-1 4.98875% money market notes  137,000,000         A-1+
    Class A-2 5.02000% notes               159,000,000         AAA
    Class A-3 5.26000% notes               177,000,000         AAA
    Class A-4 5.57000% notes               187,000,000         AAA