<PAGE>

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                     -----------------------------------
                                    FORM 10-K

                        FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS

                     PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

                       SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


(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, 1999

                                       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 333-36939

                        Chase Manhattan Auto Owner Trust 1998-A (issuer)

                Chase Manhattan Bank USA, National Association (depositor)
                  (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

           USA                                    22-2382028
(State of Other Jurisdiction of            (IRS Employer
Incorporation or Organization)              Identification Number)

802 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, DE                 19801
(Address of principal executive offices)         (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code:         (302) 575-5033


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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
      Title of Each Class             Name of Each Exchange of Which Registered
               NONE                                   N/A

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

              NONE
      (Title of Class)

      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 last 90 days: YES   X     NO
                                              -----      -----

      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item
405 of Regulation S-K 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 or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  X
                                              ---

      State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common
equity held by non-affiliates of the registrants. The aggregate market value
shall be computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was sold,
or the average bid and asked prices of such common equity, as of a specified
date within 60 days prior to the date of filing.

    The registrant has no voting or non-voting common stock outstanding as of
    the date of this report.

    The registrant is a trust that has issued certificates of beneficial
    interest in the trust assets.

                     DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE.

    List hereunder the following documents if incorporated by reference and the
Part of the Form 10-K (e.g., Part I, Part II, etc.) into which the document is
incorporated: (1) any annual report to security holders; (2) any proxy or
information statement; and (3) any prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) or
(c) under the Securities Act of 1933. The listed documents should be clearly
described for identification purposes (e.g., annual report to security holders
for fiscal year ended December 31, 1980).

      None.




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                                Introductory Note

      Chase Manhattan Auto Owner Trust 1998-A (the "Trust") was formed pursuant
to a Trust Agreement (the "Agreement") between Chase Manhattan Bank USA,
National Association (the "Bank"), as seller and servicer, and an unrelated
trustee (the "Trustee"). The Trust files reports pursuant to Section 13 and
15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended the ("Exchange Act"),
in the manner described in "no-action" letter submitted to the Office of Chief
Counsel on behalf of the originators of comparable trusts. Accordingly,
responses to certain Items have been omitted from or modified in this Annual
Report on Form 10-K.


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Part I

Item 1.           Business

      Omitted.

Item 2.           Properties

      The Trust has acquired certain auto loan receivables from the Bank
pursuant to a Sale and Servicing Agreement. The aggregate principal balance of
the receivables, as of December 31, 1999, was $418,224,348.00.

      The Trust also holds a reserve account, pursuant to the Sale and Servicing
Agreement. The principal balance of the reserve account, as of December 31,
1999, was $12,546,730.43.

      The aggregate balance of receivables that were 60 or more days past due,
as of December 31, 1999, was $3,601,979.94, or 0.861% of the receivables by
principal balance.

      The aggregate amount of principal charge-offs, net of recoveries, for the
year ended December 31, 1999, was $3,292,718.93, or 0.5906% of the average
aggregate outstanding principal balance of the receivables for that year.

Item 3.           Legal Proceedings

      The Registrant knows of no material pending legal proceedings with respect
to the Trust, the Trustee or The Bank.

Item 4.           Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

      No matter was submitted to a vote of Certificateholders during the fiscal
year covered by this report.


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Part II

Item 5.           Market for Registrant's Common Equity and Related
                  Stockholders Matters

      The registrant has no voting stock or class of common stock outstanding as
of the date of this report. The beneficial interest in the Trust is represented
by certificates of beneficial interest (the "Certificates"). The registrant is
also the issuer of two outstanding classes of asset backed notes ("Notes"). To
the knowledge of the registrant , the Certificates are traded in the
over-the-counter market to a limited extent.

      As of December 31, 1999, all of the Certificates were registered in the
name of CEDE and Co. The registrant understands that CEDE and Co. is the nominee
for the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). The registrant further understands
that DTC has no knowledge of the actual beneficial owners of the Certificates
held of record by CEDE & Co., and that DTC knows only the identity of the
participants to those whose accounts such Certificates are credited, who may or
may not be the beneficial owners of the Certificates.

      The records provided to the Trust by DTC indicate that as of December 31,
1999, the number of holders of record for each class of securities issued by the
Trust were as follows:

      CLasses                      # of Holders
      ---------                    ------------------
      A3                            24
      A4                            18
      Certificates                   2

Item 6.           Selected Financial Data

      Omitted.

Item 7.           Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
                  and Results of Operations

      Omitted.

Item 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

      Not applicable.

Item 8.           Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

      Omitted.

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

      None.


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Part III

Item 10.    Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant

      Omitted.

Item 11.    Executive Compensation

      Omitted.

Item 12.    Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

      The records of DTC indicate that at December 31, 1999, there were 17
participants in the DTC system that held positions in a class of securities of
the Trust equal to more than 5% of the total principal amount of a class of
securities outstanding on that date:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Name & Address of     Original     % of
                          Participant           Certificate   Class
                                                Principal
                                                Balance
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Class A-3                 Bank of New York         18,235,000    6.20%
                          (The)
                          925 Patterson Plank
                          Rd.
                          Secaucus, NJ  07094
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Bankers Trust Company    24,420,000    8.31%
                          C/O BT Services
                          Tennessee Inc.
                          648 Grassmere Park
                          Drive
                          Nashville, TN  37211
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Bank One Trust           12,055,000    6.87%
                          Company, N. A.
                          1900 Polaris Parkway
                          4th Floor
                          New York, NY  10004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Boston Safe Deposit      20,210,000    6.87%
                          and Trust Company
                          C/O Mellon Bank N.A.
                          Three Mellon Bank
                          Center
                          Room 153-3015
                          Pittsburgh, PA
                          15259
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Chase Manhattan Bank     75,850,000   25.80%
                          4 New York Plaza
                          13th Floor
                          New York, NY  10004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Citibank, N.A.           19,000,000    6.46%
                          P.O. Box 30576
                          Tampa, FL 33630-3576
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Investors Bank &         19,800,000    6.73%
                          Trust/M.F. Custody
                          200 Clarendon Street
                          15th Fl Hancock Tower
                          Boston, MA 02116
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
<PAGE>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          State Street Bank        56,785,000   19.31%
                          and Trust Company
                          1776 Heritage Dr.
                          Global Corporate
                          Action Unit
                          JAB 5NW
                          No. Quincy, MA  02171
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Class A4                  Bank of New York         25,940,000   10.54%
                          (The)
                          925 Patterson Plank
                          Rd.
                          Secaucus, NJ  07094
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Bankers Trust Company    87,370,000   35.52%
                          C/O BT Services
                          Tennessee Inc.
                          648 Grassmere Park
                          Drive
                          Nashville, TN  37211
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Boston Safe Deposit      13,100,000    5.33%
                          and Trust Company
                          C/O Mellon Bank N.A.
                          Three Mellon Bank
                          Center
                          Room 153-3015
                          Pittsburgh, PA
                          15259
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Chase Manhattan Bank     27,000,000   10.98%
                          4 New York Plaza
                          13th Floor
                          New York, NY  10004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Citibank, N.A.           17,750,000    7.22%
                          P. O. Box 30576
                          Tampa, FL 33630-3576
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Northern Trust           21,500,000    8.47%
                          Company (The)
                          801 S. Canal C-IN
                          Chicago, IL  60607
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          State Street Bank        29,755,000   12.10%
                          and Trust Company
                          1776 Heritage Dr.
                          Global Corporate
                          Action Unit
                          JAB 5NW
                          No. Quincy, MA  02171
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Certificates              Bank of New York         23,000,000   75.11%
                          (The)
                          925 Patterson Plank
                          Road
                          Secaucus, NJ  07094
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Chase Manhattan Bank      7,620,000   24.89%
                          4 New York Plaza,
                          13th floor
                          New York, NY  10004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Item 13.    Certain Relationships and Related Transactions

      None.



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Part IV

Item 14.    Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports of Form 8-K

            (a)   Exhibits. The following documents are filed as part of this
      Annual Report on Form 10-K.

      Exhibit Number    Description
      ---------------   ----------------
      23.1              Consent of Independent Accountants.

      28.1              Annual Management Report on Internal Controls

      28.2              Annual  Servicer's Certificate pursuant to Section
                        4.10 of the Agreement.

      28.3              Annual Independent Accountants' Servicing Reports
                        pursuant to Section 4.11 of the Agreement.

      28.4              Annual Issuer's Certificate of Compliance with the
                        Indenture.

            (b)   Reports on Form 8-K.

      The following reports were filed on Form 8-K in 1999:

Date              Items Reported    Financial Statements
------------      ----------------  -----------------------------
2/4/1999          5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 1/15/1999

3/16/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 2/15/99

6/18/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 3/15/1999, 4/15/1999 and 5/17/1999

6/30/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 6/15/1999

7/30/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 7/15/1999

8/27/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 8/16/1999

9/30/1999         5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 9/15/1999

10/29/1999        5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 10/15/1999

11/30/1999        5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 11/15/1999

12/23/1999        5, 7              Monthly report to certificateholders
                                    dated 12/15/1999


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                                   SIGNATURES

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

Dated:  March 29, 2000


                                    Chase Manhattan Auto Owner Trust 1998-A

                                    by: Chase Manhattan Bank USA,
                                    National Association


                                    By:  /s/ Patricia Garvey
                                    -----------------------------------
                                    Name:  Patricia Garvey
                                    Title: Vice President


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                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit Number:         Description:
---------------         ------------------------
23.1                    Consent of Independent Accountants

28.1                    Annual Management Report on Internal Controls

28.2                    Annual Servicer's Certificate pursuant to Section
                        4.10 of the Agreement

28.3                    Annual Independent Accountant's Servicing Reports
                        pursuant to Section 4.11 of the Agreement

28.4                    Annual Issuer's Certificate of Compliance with the
                        Indenture