AmeriCredit to be acquired by General Motors Co.

General Motors Co (GM), owner of several automotive brands, has announced its intention to acquire the auto-finance company AmeriCredit Corporation in a deal that totals $3.5 billion. Through this acquisition, GM intends to increase its availability for auto leases and loans.

After completing the transaction, General Motors will have its own auto lending company, thus increasing the company’s sales in order to return to the public markets. General Motors hopes that this acquisition will help them achieve their goal as soon as this fall.

GM’s chief executive, Edward Whitacre Jr. said that many dealers and customers have complained about the fact that the company does not have its own auto lease branch. The company’s inability to offer its own loan and lease constructions has caused sales to decrease and hurt the GM’s competitiveness. This problem seems to be solved now, so there’s nothing standing in the way of General Motors.

Without its own lease and loan department, GM has sold only 7% of its products through leasing which, compared to the industry average of about 21% is a really small amount. The acquisition of AmeriCredit Corporation will allow GM to reach customers that were out of reach until now. General Motors CFO Chris Liddell said that he does not expect GM’s lease sales to surpass 10% through this acquisition only, but the continuous effort to reach deals with other banks will further expand the availability of loans.