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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - General Motors Corp. is wasting no time in offering buyers discounts to get them to purchase 2006 models just now arriving in dealer showrooms, according to a published report.

Traditionally, auto manufacturers used incentives in the summer to clear out the previous year's models to make room for the new models. But the Detroit News reports that GM (Research) is quietly offering $500 to $1,000 cash back on most 2006 vehicles, as well as below-market financing offers.

The offers on 2006 models started Wednesday and extend through Aug. 1, according to the report. But unlike the much-hyped employee-discounts-for-anyone offer that GM offered on 2005 models in June and recently extended through Aug. 1, it is not widely publicizing the offers available on the 2006 models, the newspaper reported.

"There are some programs that all of us run just to make sure we're competitive in the marketplace," GM spokesman Jeffrey Kuhlman said.

The success of the employee discount program has been effective in reducing dealer stockpiles of 2005 model cars and trucks, which could hurt some customers' ability to find a 2005 vehicle with a feature that they want. By offering rebates or low-interest financing on some 2006 models, dealers may be able to make a sale anyway, Kuhlman told the newspaper.

"It's a tool at the dealers' disposal," Kuhlman said.

The employee discount program helped lift GM sales by 47 percent in June.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when GM responded with a popular zero-interest financing offer, the nation's largest auto manufacturer has been the leader in sales incentives used to support auto sales. Ford Motor Co. (Research) and DaimlerChrysler's (Research) Chrysler Group matched GM's successful employee discount for July.

Jack Nerad, editorial director of vehicle buying guide Kelley Blue Book, told the newspaper that GM also wants to ensure its 2006 model lineup gets off to a strong start.

"They want to launch 2006's with a bang," he said.

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