DETROIT - General Motors Corp., which just ended its zero percent financing program, will begin offering a $2,002 rebate in its place, a spokesman for the automaker said Thursday. <br>
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The cash rebate would be offered on all 2001 and 2002 GM vehicles, GM spokesman Jeff Roegner said. He said an official announcement would be made Thursday morning. <br>
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The rebate would be the first incentive offered this year and is expected to cost the automaker less than the no-interest loans it offered to counter fears that business would lag after Sept. 11. <br>
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Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG were forced to follow suit on the financing program because of its popularity. Their financing offers are slated to expire in the next two weeks. <br>
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GM television commercials announcing the $2,002 rebates were aired early by mistake in Chicago on Tuesday, The Detroit News reported Thursday. <br>
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"The zero-percent financing effort got a lot of people in the showrooms and moved a lot of metal," Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Stephen Girsky told the Detroit Free Press. <br>
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Analysts estimate the zero-percent financing represents a savings of anywhere from $2,500 to $7,000 throughout the course of the loan. <br>
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Executives at all three major automakers have discussed wanting to de-escalate the industry's rebate wars. <br>
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But GM's latest program is an admission that heavy discounts are needed to keep sales from dropping, given the weak economy and the intense competition from Japanese, Korean and European rivals. <br>
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