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GM Offering Zero Percent As Gas Prices Slam Sales

In hopes of spurring vehicle sales, General Motors says it will offer zero-percent loans for up to 72 months or cash rebates of up to $7,000. Mark LaNeve, GM's top marketing executive for North America, says the offers should help dealers move some of the pickups and SUVs they have in inventory, which have become hard to sell and are rapidly falling in value.

Last month, with sales of such vehicles in free-fall, GM's share of the U.S. vehicle market sank to 19.4%, according to Autodata Corp. -- the first time in a half-century or more it was below 20%. Toyota, meanwhile, gained share on strong sales of its passenger cars. Toyota's market share in May reached a high of 18.6%, less than one percentage point behind GM's.

The new GM incentives could spur Ford and Chrysler to make similar offers. The Big Three typically match one another's incentives, but Ford says it has no plans at this time to match GM's pricing. Chrysler says it doesn't plan to increase incentives.

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