DALLAS — Santander Consumer USA Inc. has gone full spectrum with the expansion of its Santander Auto Finance lending program into the prime tiers.

The program was primarily focused on auto loans for customers with near prime, nonprime and subprime credit, but now the company will be extending deals for consumers in the low-risk tiers. Officials said the expanded program will provide competitive market pricing for any approved loan application received from the Santander dealer base.

"Adding the prime tier to the Santander Auto program is a natural extension to our business," said Matt Fitzgerald, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Santander Consumer USA. "This will be a huge benefit for dealers, because it takes the guesswork out of matching customers with lenders based on credit quality."