GMAC limits loans to buyers with 700+ FICO rating

[jamz]

Filed under: Car Buying, GM
If you're in the market for a new car, you'd better get your credit score in order first. Auto lending units are looking for top tier customers right now, and GM's captive credit arm is going so far as to mandate a FICO rating of 700 or higher. GMAC is requiring this measure in response to the instability in the global capital and credit markets. The move is likely to cost GM some sales, but according to credit information services company Experian, 74.3% of all auto loans went to consumers with a credit score of over 700. That number is up from the 71% average of 2007, and the number is likely to increase again next year as a result of our country's current economic calamity.

Mandating near perfect credit may sound like one of the best possible ways to ensure GM will see even lower sales totals at the end of October, but that's likely the only way GMAC can get loans from banks. The question isn't whether GM will be the only automaker to look for FICO ratings of 700+, it's whether any other automaker won't follow suit.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

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