UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C.
20549





FORM 10-K





(Mark one)

[X] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2016

OR

[   ]
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from
to

Commission File Number: 333-207639-01

California
Republic Auto Receivables Trust 2016-1

(Exact name of Issuing Entity as specified in its charter)

Central Index Key Number of Issuing Entity: 0001667270

California Republic Funding, LLC

(Exact name of
Depositor as specified in its charter)

Central Index Key Number of Depositor: 0001561326

Mechanics Bank

(Exact name of Sponsor as
specified in its charter)

Central Index Key Number of Sponsor: 0001603949



|                                                               |  |                                    
|-------------------------------------------------------------- |  | -----------------------------------
|Delaware                                                       |  | 38-7155373                         
|(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or Organization) |  | (I.R.S Employer Identification No.)
|                                                               | 
|18400 Von Karman Avenue Ste 1100, Irvine, CA                   |  | 92612                              
|(Address of principal executive
offices)                       |  | (Zip Code)                         

Registrants telephone number, including area code: (949) 270-9700

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:     None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:     None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the securities Act.

Yes [  ] No [X]



Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes [  ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
(1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and
(2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be
submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Not applicable.

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant
to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§232.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of
this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.

Not applicable.

Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See Definition of accelerated filer and large accelerated filer in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer [  ]  Accelerated filer [  ]         Non-accelerated filer
[X]  Smaller Reporting Company [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Yes [  ] No [X]

State the aggregate market value of the voting and
non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrants most recently
completed second fiscal quarter.

Not applicable.



---

PART I

The
following items have been omitted from Part I in accordance with general instruction J(1) to Form 10-K:

Item 1. Business.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Item 2. Properties.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

PART II

The following items have been omitted from Part
II in accordance with general instruction J(1) to Form 10-K:

Item 5. Market for Registrants Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer
Purchases of Equity Securities.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Item 9. Changes in
and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.

Item 9B. Other Information.

None.

PART III

The following items have been omitted from Part
III in accordance with general instruction J(2) to Form 10-K:

Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant.

Item 11. Executive Compensation.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain
Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.



---

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.

The following substitute information is provided in accordance with General Instruction J(2) to Form 10-K:

Item 1112(b) of Regulation AB. Significant Obligors of Pool Assets (Financial Information)

No single obligor represents more than 10% of the pool assets held by California Republic Auto Receivables Trust 2016-1 (the Trust).

Item 1114(b)(2) of Regulation AB. Credit Enhancement and Other Support Except for Certain Derivatives Instruments (Information Regarding Significant Enhancement
Providers)

None.

Item 1115(b) of Regulation AB. Certain
Derivative Instruments (Financial Information)

No entity or group of affiliated entities provides any derivative instruments that are used to alter payments
characteristics of the cash flows from the Trust.

Item 1117 of Regulation AB. Legal Proceedings

No legal proceedings are pending against any of Mechanics Bank (the Sponsor), California Republic Funding, LLC (the Depositor), or the Trust, or
against any property of any such entities that are or would be material to holders of the Notes or certificates (the Certificates) issued by the Trust.

U.S. Bank National Association (U.S. Bank), the Indenture Trustee with respect to the Trust, has provided the following disclosure:

Since 2014 various plaintiffs or groups of plaintiffs, primarily investors, have filed claims against U.S. Bank National Association (U.S. Bank), in its
capacity as trustee or successor trustee (as the case may be) under certain residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) trusts. The plaintiffs or plaintiff groups have filed substantially similar complaints against other RMBS trustees,
including Deutsche Bank, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo. The complaints against U.S. Bank allege the trustee caused losses to investors as a result of alleged failures by the sponsors, mortgage loan sellers and servicers for
these RMBS trusts and assert causes of action based upon the trustees purported failure to enforce repurchase obligations of mortgage loan sellers for alleged breaches of representations and warranties concerning loan quality. The complaints
also assert that the trustee failed to notify security holders of purported events of default allegedly caused by breaches of servicing standards by mortgage loan servicers and that the trustee purportedly failed to abide by a heightened standard of
care following alleged events of default.

Currently U.S. Bank is a defendant in multiple actions alleging individual or class action claims against the trustee
with respect to multiple trusts as described above with the most substantial case being: BlackRock Balanced Capital Portfolio et al v. U.S. Bank National Association, No. 605204/2015 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) (class action alleging claims with respect to
approximately 794 trusts) and its companion case BlackRock Core Bond Portfolio et al v. U.S Bank National Association, No. 14-cv-9401 (S.D.N.Y.). Some of the trusts implicated in the aforementioned Blackrock cases, as well as other trusts, are
involved in actions brought by separate groups of plaintiffs related to no more than 100 trusts per case.

U.S. Bank cannot assure you as to the outcome of any of
the litigation, or the possible impact of these litigations on the trustee or the RMBS trusts. However, U.S. Bank denies liability and believes that it has performed its obligations under the RMBS trusts in good faith, that its actions were not the
cause of losses to investors and that it has meritorious defenses, and it intends to contest the plaintiffs claims vigorously.



---

Item 1119 of Regulation AB. Affiliations and Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.

The Sponsor is the originator, as contemplated by Item 1110 of Regulation AB, of all the pool assets owned by the Trust. The Sponsor is also the primary servicer.
The Depositor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sponsor and, therefore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the originator and the primary servicer.

The Indenture
Trustee is not affiliated with the Sponsor (including in its role as originator and primary servicer), the Depositor, or the Trust. The Owner Trustee is not affiliated with the Sponsor or the Depositor.

There are no significant obligors or support providers, or other material parties related to the Notes or Certificates.

In addition, there are no business relationships, agreements, arrangements, transactions or understanding outside the ordinary course of business or on terms other than
would be obtained in an arms length transaction with an unrelated party, apart from the transaction involving the issuance of the Notes and Certificates by the Trust, between the Sponsor, the Depositor or the Trust and any of the parties
mentioned in this Item.

Item 1122 of Regulation AB. Compliance with Applicable Servicing Criteria.

The Sponsor (in its role as servicer), and the Indenture Trustee (the Sponsor, as servicer, and the Indenture Trustee collectively as the Servicing
Participants) have each been identified by the Depositor as participating in the servicing function with respect to the asset pool held by the Trust. The Servicing Participants have each completed a report on an assessment of compliance with
its respective servicing functions (each, a Servicing Report), which Servicing Reports are attached as exhibits to this Form 10-K. Neither the Servicing Reports prepared by any of the Servicing Participants, nor the Attestation Reports
provided by the Servicing Participants respective registered public accounting firms have identified any material instance of noncompliance with the servicing criteria applicable to the respective Servicing Participant.

Item 1123 of Regulation AB. Servicer Compliance Statement.

The Sponsor
(in its role as servicer) has been identified by the Depositor as a servicer with respect to the asset pool held by the Trust. The Sponsor has completed a statement of compliance with applicable servicing criteria (the Compliance
Statement), signed by an authorized officer of the Sponsor. The Compliance Statement is attached as an exhibit to this Form 10-K.

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.



|(a)   (1) | Financial Statements: Not applicable.
|--------- | -------------------------------------

(2) Financial Statement Schedules: Not applicable

(3) List of Exhibits



---

The following exhibits are provided as part of, and incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on
Form 10-K:



|        |  |                                                                                                           |  |                |  | 
|------- |  | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |  | -------------- |  | 
|Exhibit |  | Description                                                                                               |  |                |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|3.1     |  | Depositors Certificate of Formation                                                                      |  | *              |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|3.2     |  | Depositors Operating Agreement                                                                           |  | *              |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|4.1     |  | The Indenture                                                                                             |  | **             |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|4.2     |  | Amended and Restated Trust Agreement                                                                      |  | **             |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|10      |  | Sale and Servicing Agreement                                                                              |  | **             |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|31      |  | Section 302 Certification                                                                                 |  | Filed herewith |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|33.1    |  | Managements Report on assessment of Compliancewith SEC Regulation AB Servicing Criteria                  |  | Filed herewith |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|33.2    |  | Indenture Trustees Assertion of Compliance                                                               |  | Filed herewith |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|34.1    |  | Report of Independent Registered Public AccountingFirm (Crowe Horwath LLP on behalf of Mechanics Bank)    |  | Filed herewith |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|34.2    |  | Report of Independent Registered Public AccountingFirm (Ernst & Young LLP on behalf of Indenture Trustee) |  | Filed herewith |  | 
|        |  |                                                                                                           | 
|35      |  | Servicing Compliance Report of Mechanics Bank as Servicer                                                 |  | Filed herewith |  | 



| | * | Incorporated herein by reference to the corresponding Exhibit to California Republic LLCs Registration Statement filed on August 28, 2013 (File No. 333-190866).
| | - | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



| | ** | Incorporated herein by reference to the corresponding Exhibit to the Form 8-K filed on March 11, 2016 (File No. 333-207639-01).
| | -- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



|(b) | Exhibits.
|--- | ---------

The Depositor hereby is providing as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K the exhibits
listed in Item 15(a)(3) set forth above.



|(c) | Financial Statement Schedule.
|--- | -----------------------------

Not Applicable.



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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the
requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Depositor has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

California Republic Funding, LLC, as Depositor

By: /s/ Nathan J. Duda

Nathan J. Duda, Chief Financial Officer

Dated: March 30, 2017