General Motors Corp. will offer customers new enticements to cut short their leases and take new vehicles, launching the next chapter in the

U.S. auto market's price wars, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Under the program, due to begin March 1, GM

will waive remaining lease payments for customers who cut their existing leases short and come buy or lease new GM cars or trucks. The program runs through April.

Returning customers whose leases expire between March and September are eligible, dealers familiar with the plan said.

Automakers will report February U.S. sales on March 1. Analysts and industry officials expect

sales of new light vehicles will show a decline of about 10 percent from strong year-earlier levels, when the seasonally adjusted annual sales pace was 17.5 million vehicles.