OREANDA-NEWS. As part of its ongoing surveillance, Fitch Ratings has taken the following rating actions on Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust (SDART) 2014-1 and 2014-2:

2014-1
--Class B affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class C upgraded to 'AAAsf' from 'AAsf'; Outlook revised to Stable from Positive;
--Class D upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook Positive;
--Class E upgraded to 'Asf' from 'BBBsf'; Outlook revised to Positive from Stable.

2014-2
--Class B affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;
--Class C upgraded to 'AAAsf' from 'AAsf'; Outlook revised to Stable from Positive;
--Class D upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook Positive;
--Class E upgraded to 'Asf' from 'BBBsf'; Outlook revised to Positive from 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 both transactions, Fitch revised its loss proxies based on current performance trends and both continue to track below Fitch's initial expectations. Based on current loss trends, Fitch expects final CNL for both transactions to be in the 12%-14% range.

The upgrades reflect the improved loss coverage available to the notes. Further, Fitch will continue to monitor both 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 both transactions, the class E notes show limited sensitivity to back-ended loss timing scenarios. Despite the slight declines observed, the net loss coverage multiples under the back ended scenarios for the class E notes are still in excess of the recommended multiple for 'BBsf' for both transactions.