Chrysler's finance arm said it had renewed its credit facilities, but had reduced the amount to $24 billion (Dh88bn) from $30bn due to tough credit markets and changes in its retail strategy.

Chrysler Financial said 90 per cent of all banks that were part of the original financing participated.

Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland, led the syndication of the loan facilities.

Chrysler Financial will use the credit facility as a source of funding to make loans to Chrysler dealers financing inventory of unsold vehicles in showrooms and and to make loans to consumers financing vehicle purchases.

Those loans are then typically bundled up and sold to investors in the asset-backed securities market.

Last month, Chrysler, which is majority-owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, said the financing arm would stop offering vehicle leases.

On Friday, the car manufacturer said the decision to suspend lease financing, a risky form of vehicle financing that has saddled Chrysler's US rivals with large losses, had been a positive move in negotiations with its bank syndicate.

Chrysler did not specify the interest rate it was paying on the financing.

Chrysler Chief Financial Officer Ron Kolka said on Friday the financing cost would be higher because of the tighter credit markets.

Chrysler Financial spokesman Bill Porter said $24bn raised in the refinancing was sufficient because of the company's decision to abandon lease financing.

In lease financing deals, car manufacturers and affiliated finance companies essentially rent cars and trucks to consumers.

The setup allows consumers to buy bigger and more expensive vehicles than they would otherwise because it keeps monthly payments low.

But the sharp decline in the popularity of SUVs and trucks has exposed the risk of lease financing for car manufacturers , who have been forced to sell vehicles coming off lease for as much as 25 per cent less than they had forecast.

The result in recent months has been losses of thousands of dollars for every SUV and truck sold on a lease contract.

Chrysler is the first major car manufacturer in the United States to pull out from vehicle financing.