General Motors Corporation is considering offering an extended bumper-to-bumper protection plan for five years or 60,000 miles on all its brands following success with the program on its Oldsmobile brand. The extended protection plan, above GM's three-year 36,000 miles warranty, has been a greater success than anticipated since its introduction with the Oldsmobile brand earlier this month, said Bill Lovejoy, head of GM's North American automotive sales, service and marketing. "Quite frankly, it's been much stronger than anticipated. Consumers really understand the value of it," Lovejoy told reporters following a speech. "We're evaluating it. We'll talk to our dealer councils, trying to determine if this is an aberration." GM introduced the program on new 2000 and 2001 Oldsmobiles to avoid a sales plunge as it phases out the 103-year old brand over the next few years. GM announced in December plans to kill Oldsmobile, which had difficulty changing its image to attract young buyers of import models. "Oldsmobile sales have been really, really strong. People understand good value," he said. Other automakers have added longer warranties in recent years to counter an image of quality problems and to boost sales. Korean automakers Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. and Kia Motors Corp. both now offer a five-year/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper, a 10-year/100,000 mile warranty on the powertrain, and a roadside assistance plan good for five years with unlimited mileage. Both manufacturers attribute sharply rising sales in the past two years to the longer warranties. Lovejoy said the extended plan could enable GM to cut back on its expensive cash incentives, drive more service business to its dealerships and sell more GM certified parts. Lovejoy told reporters GM sales so far in January are showing some improvement over December, when industry sales fell 7.6 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of about 15.45 million vehicles.