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NEW ORLEANS - Ford Motor Co. (F) hopes to eke out a gain in its U.S. sales this year by offering more loans to young car buyers, a senior company official said on Sunday.

``Ford Credit is doing some things for young buyers that we think will make a difference,'' Lyons said, referring to Ford's financial arm.

Among other moves to ease its lending policies, Lyons said Ford Credit was ``changing the way they look at debt to income ratios for young buyers.''

He did not elaborate, but said the changes meant that Ford would not longer use the same credit standards to assess people across all age groups and income levels.

For young people, who often have no credit rating at all, Ford Credit's analysts will now allow them ``to stretch a little more, anticipating growth in income later on,'' Lyons said.

``We will not finance people that don't pay us back. Nobody wants us to do that,'' Lyons said.

In a new consumer incentive, also aimed at ratcheting up Ford's sales, Lyons said Ford was also now matching downpayments toward purchases of its compact Focus car.

``We'll match up to $500 in addition to any other rebates. If you want to put the $500 down we'll match it,'' he said.