Sloan: Willys-Overland first to fill credit 'vacuum'

When he launched General Motors Acceptance Corp. in 1919, John Raskob was the first to create a national captive finance company, and General Motors was the first automaker to take advantage of the potential for mass-market consumer credit. But GM wasn't the first car company to figure out that its customers and dealers needed a reliable finance source and do something about it.