Just hours after GMAC LLC accepted a $6 billion government bailout package designed to enable more consumer car loans, General Motors announced new incentives.

GM said on Tuesday it is offering 0 percent financing through Monday, Jan. 5, on the discontinued Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7X SUVs and on two Saab sedans, the 9-3 and 9-5.




GM also is offering new cash incentives with other vehicles. Both 2008 and 2009 models are covered under the incentive program, which also runs through Monday.

GM might expand the incentives starting Tuesday, Jan. 6, Mark LaNeve, GM’s North American vice president of sales, service and marketing, told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday.

LaNeve said this year’s credit crunch and other financial problems--which saw GMAC exit auto leasing and only offer loans to consumers with credit scores of 700 or higher--hurt dealers’ ability to close sales.

“We’ve been trying to hold onto market share with one arm tied behind our back,” LaNeve told reporters. He said dealers now can offer loans through GMAC to consumers with credit scores in the 620 range.

“Six hundred twenty is not a subprime score,” said LaNeve. “That’s a very creditworthy buyer. Hopefully, we’ll have access to more of the market that is out there.”

LaNeve said GM dealers are happy to have GMAC writing more car loans.

“Any tool they can get to make credit available and put deals together is a good thing,” he said. “Anytime you can make credit available to a wider spread of buyers, that’s a good thing.

“Not everyone has perfect credit. It brings a lot more customers into play for us.”

One of those dealers, Ken Playter, said the 0 percent interest rate on three Saab models is an attempt to help dealers who are waiting for GM to sell the brand. But the 0 percent deal is only “a shot in the arm,” he said, because it expires Monday.

“For viability for us, this isn’t the answer,” said Playter, owner of Glassman Auto Group in suburban Detroit. “We’ve got two new products, and both of them have been shelved”--the new 9-5 sedan for six months and the 9-4X crossover for a year.

“We need product, and we need a clear decision made” on Saab’s future, he said. “We’re going to continue to be a part of General Motors’ family, or we have a buyer lined up, and here’s the buyer.”

Because the 0 percent financing waives the cash rebates available for the vehicles, the interest rate doesn’t really provide a better deal for most Saab customers, Playter said.

Another Saab dealer, Tom Sheehan, agreed.

“It certainly won’t appeal to them as much as if the prime rate was 6 or 7 percent, but we’re trying to move a market that’s a little dormant,” said Sheehan, who owns Sheehan Saab in Lighthouse Point, Fla., and is on GM’s National Dealer Council.

Sheehan said he expects traffic at his store to increase 25 to 50 percent because of the GMAC financing news. But his December sales still may not reach last year’s levels. Sales have fallen 20 to 30 percent from December 2007, although they are up from the loss of at least 50 percent Sheehan saw in November.

Besides 0 percent loans on some vehicles, GM is offering cash ranging from $500 to $4,250 on some vehicles.

The speed of the decision to offer a 621 credit-score minimum and APR deals surprised dealers, said GMC and Buick dealer John Rogin.

“The machine’s working. The sales people are walking on air right now. They are on the phone, calling customers,” said Rogin, who owns two stores in suburban Detroit. “There’s incredible pent-up demand, where a lot of people have sat on the sidelines.”

Even though the 0 percent APR only applies to five vehicles, the deal will bring out customers interested in different models, Rogin said.

“Any time a manufacturer offers 0 percent on any line, it piques interest,” he said. This says, ‘It’s OK. Come on in now.’ ”

GM plans to spread the word about the 0 percent loans and cash incentives by modifying its Red Tag sales promotion and using heavy Internet advertising, said GM spokesman John McDonald.

Some of GMs top-selling vehicles, including the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Silverado pickup, are covered under the cut-rate financing plan. Both are available for 4.9 percent for 60 months.

LaNeve said GM is performing better than other manufacturers this month, but he said sales will be down for the month compared with December 2007.