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General Motors Extends Warranty Coverage

General Motors Corp. has announced that will begin offering new car buyers a 100,000 mile warranty with their purchase. The world`s largest automaker says it will try to bring back customers with the plan, targeted first at their 2007 model buyers. Detroit-based GM also is expected to extend roadside assistance coverage to 100,000 miles. GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagone has noted that the new extended warranty will also apply to 2007 models already sold, since the models for next year tend to come out earlier than the actual start of the year.

Currently, General Motors offers a warranty on GM vehicle engines and other power-train parts for up to 36,000 miles. Jeremy Anwyl, president of the Santa Monica, California-based Edmunds Group, which runs an auto-pricing Web site, says of the plan "You can see gleanings of a cohesive strategy. They went through this repricing back in January, and they`ve kind of toughed it out this year without having any major incentives."

The warranty, which starts this week, will run to 100,000 miles or five years, whichever comes first. The warranty has no deductible, is transferable to new owners, and applies to all new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. automaker industry is deep in a period of transition, as this week Ford Motors CEO Bill Ford announced he was stepping down in favor of a new executive from Boeing.