By Bill Visnic

Scarce wonder that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC are eying buyers with sub-prime credit as the next growth market: in the wake of the recession-led credit crunch, only about 9 percent of sub-prime borrowers have their auto loans approved, said an article by the Associated Press.

The astonishing current reject rate for sub-prime auto lending represents a huge drop from historic standards that, prior to the economic meltdown, saw about 60 percent of sub-prime auto loans approved. Today's 9-percent approval rate is a bonanza for sub-prime auto loans compared with last year, which saw the approval fate fall to just 5 percent, the article said.