S&P Assigns Preliminary Rating to FIAT SpA's Class A Notes

8 June 2000
S&P Assigns Preliminary Rating to FIAT SpA's Class A Notes

    LONDON - Standard & Poor's today assigned a triple-'A' preliminary rating to
the class A notes of the euro 1.084 billion issuance of First Italian Auto 
Transaction S.p.A., a special-purpose entity (see list below).

    This transaction, originated by Fiat SAVA S.p.A., will be the first auto
loan securitization by an Italian entity, and the first auto loan deal using
the new Securitization Law enacted in April 1999, said Michael Oehm, an
associate director at Standard & Poor's Structured Finance Ratings group in
London.

    "This deal represents a landmark in the growing Italian securitization
market and is likely to precede further transactions of auto loan and consumer
finance assets," he added.

    The preliminary rating reflects an analysis of the servicer's ability to
fulfill its role in this transaction, the sound legal and payment structures
of the transaction, and the sound cash flow mechanics of the transaction.
Other key rating considerations include:

    -- The strong protection for the class A noteholders provided by a
combination of (11)% subordination of the class M notes and any excess spread
generated by the deferral of interest due on the class M notes; and

    -- The protection provided by various early amortization triggers.
    A copy of Standard & Poor's complete presale report for this transaction
is available on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis
system, at http://www.ratingsdirect.com.  The report is also available on
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Web site at
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings.  Under Presale Reports, select
Structured Finance, then Asset-Backed Securities, Standard & Poor's said. --
CreditWire

    PRELIMINARY RATING ASSIGNED
    Class            Rating           Amount (Mil. Eur)
    A                AAA                 965
    M                N.R.                119

    N.R.-- not rated.