General Motors Corp., in its latest marketing push, ended zero percent financing on new car and truck loans and shuffled its cash-back offers, reducing discounts on certain hot-selling sport utility vehicles but raising them for slower-selling models, according to a Wall Street Journal story by Sholnn Freeman.

GM has used aggressive discounting to regain market share during the recent economic slowdown. But now, with the economy apparently recovering, GM and its rivals are looking to fine-tune their pricing strategies to keep sales of high-profit models humming while reducing the total cost of the discount programs, according to the Journal.

GM is calling its new program "1-2-3," a reference to the range of finance rates -- 1.9 percent, 2.9 percent and 3.9 percent -- and the new array of cash discounts: $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000.

Under the new program, GM lowered the cash incentives by $500 to $1,000 on its Chevy TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy SUVs, strong-selling models for which GM has been struggling to meet demand. But in a move to keep pressure on archrival Ford Motor Co., GM added a $1,000 rebate for its Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV and a $2,000 discount for its new, trucklike Cadillac Escalade EXT.

According to the Journal, GM will face tougher competition from redesigned Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles that are about to enter the market.

With U.S. new car and truck sales showing strength in recent months, GM's move could encourage other automakers to offer less

generous rebates on selected models, according to the Detroit News.

GM's April sales of new cars and trucks are expected to be up as much as 6 percent over 2001, boosted in part by rebounding rental fleet sales. By contrast, some analysts say

Ford's April sales could drop as much as 15 percent, with fleet sales continuing to slump.