General Motors Corp. <GM.N> and Ford Motor Co. <F.N> announced on Friday year-end sales incentives to U.S. consumers to boost sales momentum.

GM said it will offer incentives of up to $2,000, while Ford set an additional $1,000 cash rebate on some of its popular vehicles.

GM's incentive program, called "Red Tag" sale, starts Saturday and will run through January 2, GM spokesman John McDonald said.

Ford's program also runs through January 2 and includes interest-free financing for up to 60 months on some 2006 vehicles.

The new cash rebate offers of $1,000 are on its Fusion sedan, Super Duty pickup truck, Escape SUV, Five Hundred sedan and Freestyle wagon. Including existing rebates, discounts on some Ford vehicles could reach $3,000.

GM discounts will be available on 2006 and 2007 model-year Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn and GMC vehicles.

"The reason we are doing this is to boost sales momentum going into 2007," McDonald said.

GM's U.S. sales were down about 9 percent through October, while Ford's U.S. sales were down 7 percent.

GM is giving cash to dealers, who will decide which vehicles will get discounts and how much, instead of the usual practice of setting discounts per vehicle, McDonald said.

This is the third straight year that GM is running a year-end "Red Tag" sale. A red tag on the vehicle will display the discount.

McDonald said GM has reduced overall incentive spending by $660 per vehicle year-to-date compared with the same period last year and the "Red Tag" promotion fits with the automaker's decision to use incentives strategically.