General Motors, seeking to revive sluggish automobile sales, said Oct. 30 it would extend through Jan. 2, 2003 its "triple zero" incentive program on most of its vehicles, according to a Reuters report.

The automaker's triple zero plan offered no down payments, no payments for three months and no-interest loans in October in response to signs of slowing U.S. car sales. It was initally announced that the triple zero program would expire Oct. 31. Since then, industry executives and analysts have said October sales continued to appear slow, and could fall to their lowest rate so far this year, according to Reuters.

But unlike past moves on incentives by GM, other major automakers did not rush to match the triple zero deals.

Ford did offer a similar deal in September, but left those zero percent loans and cash rebates mostly unchanged. DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit also did not match GM's offer.

While such incentives from Detroit's Big Three and other automakers have helped prop up U.S. auto sales, they've also dragged down earnings, according to Reuters.

GM said its net prices in the third quarter fell by more than 2 percent from the same period a year ago, while Chrysler said its revenues per vehicle fell by about 4 percent in the quarter.

Reuters quoted GM spokeswoman Elaine Redd as saying GM would extend the offers through Jan. 2, confirming a report in Oct. 30 editions of the Detroit News. She said the company would reveal the rest of its national marketing program on Nov. 1, when it announces October sales results.