GM credit loosens up

This could be an important step in the effort to revive car sales. GMAC, which is the automaker's financing company and just received a $6 billion infusion from the Treasury Department, says it will modify its credit criteria so that more folks will be eligible to take out auto loans. The money is coming from the Troubled Asset Relief Fund, the $700 billion rescue program for financial institutions that Congress approved in early October. Meanwhile, GM says it will offer 0 percent financing on some models in a bid to jump-start sales. Between that and dirt-cheap gas, it’s a good bet that car sales will perk up a bit. From the NYT:

“That brings a lot more customers into play for us,” Mark LaNeve, G.M.’s vice president for North American sales and marketing, said on a conference call. “It’s a strong signal that GMAC is back in the game, and that G.M. dealers are back in the game of financing vehicles.”

From the WSJ:

The largest U.S. auto maker by revenue had to scale back incentives and halt leasing in a stagnant domestic market as loss-making GMAC wrestled with a restructuring plan that left it unable to provide loans and leases. The auto and real-estate lender didn't write a single lease in November, and issued 22% fewer auto loans in the third quarter compared with a year earlier. Ford Motor Co. also tightened lending while Chrysler LLC exited loan financing altogether.