Available now through June 30, 2010, GM Certified Used Vehicle’s new incentive program provides well-qualified buyers with GMAC 1.9 percent, 2.9 percent or 3.9 percent APR financing on 2005 to 2010 model year GM Certified Chevy Impalas.

Additionally, available until Jan. 3, 2011, well-qualified buyers can purchase a 2005 to 2010 model year GM Certified Pontiac G6 and receive 1.9 percent APR financing.

“The G6 is a great buy for parents looking for the first car for their recent graduate and the Impala is an excellent choice for anyone who is looking for a great mid-size car that’s fuel efficient,” said Paul Pejza, manager of GM Certified Used Vehicles. “This is a perfect time to take advantage of low financing rates on cars customers know are reliable and provide peace of mind.”

All GM Certified Used Vehicles come with a fully transferable five-year or 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, a 12-month/12,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, 117-point inspection, 24-hour roadside assistance and 3-month trial of OnStar and XM Satellite Radio.

For Chrysler brand vehicles, the options are zero-percent financing for up to 60 months or 1.9-percent financing for 72-month terms. Or, shoppers can choose to receive up to $3,000 in Consumer Cash.

On Jeep models — excluding the Wrangler — customers can pick one of the following: zero-percent financing for up to 60 months, a 72-month term with 1.9-percent financing, or up to $3,000 in Consumer Cash.

Additionally, Liberty, Grand Cherokee and Commander buyers or lessees who finance via GMAC Financial Services can receive GMAC Bonus Cash up to $1,000.

Also, for shoppers who buy or a lease a Wrangler, there is $500 in Mopar Bucks available.

Moving on to Dodge, the choices are zero-percent financing for up to 72 months or a maximum of $3,000 in Consumer Cash.

For those shoppers who buy an Avenger, Grand Caravan or Nitro, they can access zero-percent financing for up to 60 months or go with the option of receiving up to $2,000 in Consumer Cash.

Options for Charger buyers are zero-percent financing for up to 72 months or $3,000 in Consumer Cash.

Challenger buyers can access “attractive” GMAC financing rates. They are also given $2,000 in Mopar Bucks when they purchase or lease the model.

For the Journey and Caliber, the options are zero-percent financing on a 36-month term or up to $1,500 in Consumer Cash.

Continuing on, available on most 2010 Ram trucks are the following options: zero-percent financing for up to 60 months or up to $1,500 in Consumer Cash.

Also, Dodge Dakota and Ram 1500 buyers and lessees who use GMAC financing can receive $1,000 in GMAC Bonus Cash.

Finally, Chrysler pointed out that there are “attractive” lease rates on several models in its 2010 lineup.

All of the aforementioned offers run through June 30.

“The brand is owned between us,” Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, said today in an interview. “If the brand equity is something that we want to go after there and keep intact, then we will.”

GMAC has a license from its former parent to use the name for its automotive operations until 2016. GMAC told dealers yesterday that its automotive operations would continue to do business under the GMAC name for the foreseeable future.

Reuss said the relationship between GM and GMAC definitely has changed since GM gave up complete ownership in 2006, primarily because GMAC does not buy as many financing deals as it used to. But he said that’s in large part because of the effects of the global financial crisis on GMAC, which has received more than $17 billion in U.S. bailout money since December 2008.

“If we ask GMAC to help us with different points of being competitive where we want to compete, then they go help us do that,” Reuss said.

For instance, GM today introduced 24-month leases for some products, spokesman Tom Henderson said. The lease offer runs through June 30 and applies to the Chevrolet Malibu and Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick LaCrosse and Enclave and Cadillac CTS and SRX.

GMAC slowly has returned to leasing since August after dropping out of that market for almost a year. GM executives have said they are aiming for a 7 to 10 percent lease penetration, compared with 20 to 22 percent before the auto market crash.

Reuss said GMAC is also re-establishing floorplan financing for nearly all of the dealers that have accepted GM’s offer to be reinstated.

Easier approval for consumer loans is a welcome sign for many Chrysler dealers, who have been hobbled by tight credit since Chrysler’s former captive finance company, Chrysler Financial, ceased consumer leasing in August 2008.

GMAC declined to provide specifics on its increased retail penetration but issued a statement: “We’re committed to supporting dealers in their sales efforts, and have ramped up our volume of retail financing quarter-to-quarter.”

Earlier today, GMAC posted its first quarterly net profit since the fourth quarter of 2008. GMAC said it earned $162 million in net income during the first quarter as U.S. auto sales strengthened.

Some Chrysler dealers initially felt GMAC treated them like second-class citizens after President Barack Obama announced April 30, 2009, that GMAC would succeed Chrysler Financial as the captive finance company for Chrysler Group dealers.

Easing of tight credit will help Chrysler dealers as they struggle to get by while waiting for a new generation of vehicles to emerge from the alliance with Fiat Auto. Chrysler is launching the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee in June or July, but most of the Fiat-based products will not arrive until 2012-2013.

GMAC has been able to offer more loans partially because Ally Bank, its retail subsidiary, recently got a $7 billion revolving credit line from a syndicate of lenders. The U.S. Department of Treasury has invested more than $16 billion in GMAC since December 2008 and held a 56 percent stake in the company as of last December.

GMAC also provides wholesale floorplan loans to about 1,500 of Chrysler’s 2,332 dealers. Transitioning the floorplans of all those dealers from Chrysler Financial was a difficult process, but many Chrysler dealers have praised GMAC for getting the job done in under a year. A few scattered Chrysler dealers have been unable to get floorplans because they still owe large sums to Chrysler Financial.

GMAC, which lost $10 billion in 2009, has not posted a net profit since the fourth quarter of 2008.

The switch to Ally, on May 10, is no surprise, but will not affect GMAC’s dealer network in the foreseeable future. Though the auto finance division may eventually use the Ally brand, the lender’s automotive operations will continue to do business under the GMAC name, the company told dealers earlier today.

GMAC has a license from General Motors to use the name “GMAC” for its automotive operations until 2016.

The company already uses the name “Ally Bank” for its online banking portal.

In February, GMAC reached an agreement with the online credit application network DealerTrack allowing the lender to offer retail financing through dealers of all makes.

Carpenter, 63, is trying to make GMAC profitable by renewing its focus on auto financing after losses on mortgages led to three U.S. bailouts totaling $17.3 billion. The government holds a 56 percent stake.

The broader auto customer base, an improved auto credit market and improvements in GMAC’s home mortgage business strengthened the company’s financial results. GMAC has exited the mortgage business in Europe.

The company reported first-quarter net income of $162 million, up from a net loss of $675 million in the first quarter of 2009. GMAC said retail deposits at Ally Bank amounted to $17.7 billion on March 31, compared with $16.9 billion at the end of 2009.

GMAC’s global automotive business, including insurance products, earned $846 million, up from $660 million a year ago and $309 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. The auto unit has been profitable for five straight quarters.

Consumer loan and lease originations totaled $8.2 billion, the same amount as in the fourth quarter of last year and up from the $3.7 billion in contracts written in the first quarter of 2009.

Lease programs helped offset weaker auto sales in January and February and helped boost retail penetration rates for GM and Chrysler Group. GMAC financed 34 percent of GM’s and 42 percent of Chrysler’s volume.

Higher used-vehicle values also slashed GMAC’s losses on repossessed vehicles. Globally, the percentage of auto loans 30 days past due dropped to 2.87 percent in the first quarter from 3.48 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. In North America, 3.07 percent of the auto loans were 30 days past due, down from 3.92 percent in the final quarter last year.

GMAC’s income from insurance products benefited as the company streamlined the business unit to focus on dealer-oriented products such as extended service plans and dealer inventory insurance. GMAC earned $621 million on insurance products in the first quarter, up from $511 million a year ago.

“We are pleased to have Jack join the GMAC board and know that his extensive background in banking will add valuable perspective and enhance the governance process,” said GMAC Chairman Franklin (Fritz) Hobbs.

Stack served as chairman and CEO of Ceska Sporitelna, a.s., the largest bank in the Czech Republic, from 2000 to 2007. Prior to that, he spent 22 years in retail banking in various roles at Chemical Bank and then later at Chase Bank. Stack began his career in government, working in staff roles in the New York City Non-Judicial office and then later in the New York City mayor’s office.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Iona College and a master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Stack also serves on the boards of Erste Bank Group, Mutual of America and ShoreBank International.

Muir will continue in his current role until a replacement is named. After that time, he will remain with GMAC for a period of time to ensure a smooth and orderly transition period.

“Bill has been a dedicated leader to GMAC for many years and helped the company through a number of key milestones. We are pleased to continue to benefit from his experience during this transition period,” said GMAC CEO Michael A. Carpenter.

Muir said, “I continue to be optimistic about the strategic direction for GMAC and the progress the team is making. I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition for GMAC’s premier Global Automotive Services business before commencing with my retirement within the next year.”

The company has initiated an external search for a candidate to run the Global Automotive Services operation.

Thor is the world’s largest manufacturer of recreation vehicles, including brands such as Damon, Four Winds, Airstream, Dutchmen, Komfort, Breckenridge, CrossRoads, General Coach and Keystone RV. GMAC will begin by extending retail financing through Thor dealers in 14 high-volume states, and eventually expand nationwide to all 1,200 dealers that comprise Thor’s U.S. network. The company expects to accept retail financing applications from dealers for both new and used RVs, beginning in May 2010.

“The RV financing market is a natural extension of our auto business,” said GMAC President Bill Muir. “We have the infrastructure and servicing capabilities to add the RV business to our portfolio. Further, many of GMAC’s current and prospective auto customers are interested in using their vehicles to pull towables, so the new relationship with Thor brands makes a lot of sense for both our business and customer base.”

GMAC intends to hire current employees who manage Thor Credit services, including industry veteran Ed Arienti.

“We are pleased to select GMAC as the preferred financing provider for Thor Industries, particularly as we seek to satisfy increased demand for our recreation vehicles with a positive sales and financing experience,” said Thor Chairman and CEO Peter Orthwein. “Thor dealers and their customers will benefit from having GMAC as a retail financing option.”

The U.S. RV market has been growing since mid-2009, and is expected to reach more than 215,000 units in 2010. Thor Industries currently holds 27 percent of U.S. RV market share. “The RV industry represents high-quality business and is currently under-represented by the financial community,” Muir said.

In addition to providing consumer retail financing, GMAC will offer remarketing services to RV dealers for used or traded-in recreation vehicles through its SmartAuction online site.

According to the panel, Treasury should consider the possibility of breaking up GMAC and merging its auto-finance unit back into General Motors Co., Automotive News reported.

That measure would restore GM’s financing operations to a model used by a number of other automakers, said the panel headed by Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University law professor.

GMAC lost $8.3 billion on its mortgage business last year, which amounted to more than 80 percent of its total net losses, the panel’s report said.

“We appreciate the panel’s responsibility to analyze history; however, GMAC’s management team is focused on the future,” GMAC said in a statement. “That includes continuing to provide the highest level of service to auto dealers and consumers in support of our auto partners, returning GMAC to a high level of profitability, and repaying the U.S. Treasury.”

Treasury, in a statement released this afternoon, said, “Treasury continues to be a reluctant shareholder and to manage its investment in GMAC in a hands-off commercial manner consistent with the administration’s established principles that guide Treasury’s management of financial interests in private firms.”

As for its past decisions not to restructure GMAC, the federal agency said, “After considerable analysis and deliberation, Treasury viewed the course taken as the least costly and least disruptive of all the options available.”

The congressional panel found that the government missed chances to increase accountability and ensure repayment of taxpayers’ money with its early decisions to rescue GMAC rather than pursue other options as part of a broader auto industry bailout.

Treasury has said that it was necessary to support GMAC because of the company’s dominant role in floorplan financing and that failure to do so would have undermined the government’s investments in the auto industry.

In 2006, GM spun its credit arm off into a company that today is the 14th largest bank holding company in the United States.

Robert Hull will join Providence Equity Partners in April as chief financial officer. Before arriving at GMAC in 2007, he was CFO of Bank of America Corp.’s global wealth and investment management business, Providence Equity said in a statement.

GMAC said Hull, 46, will leave at the end of the month. The former General Motors finance arm will search internally and externally for a replacement, according to a U.S. regulatory filing.

The lender has been kept afloat with government support and is now 56 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury. Cerberus Capital Management LP owns 14.9 percent; third party investors own 12.2 percent; an independent trustee for GM owns 9.9 percent; and a GM affiliate owns 6.7 percent.