Andrew Ross Sorkin has a very interesting column this week examining the signal sent by GM’s purchase of AmeriCredit.  The short answer: GM looks like it’s trying to revive the old patterns of demand before the recession.  It’s doing so by following some of the same business practices that led to its bankruptcy filing last summer.

AmeriCredit currently serves 11,000 dealerships, but only 4,000 of those are associated with GM. The company has plans to expand across all auto companies: It recently announced to investors that loan originations could total as much as $900 million over the last quarter (ending June 30), up from $175 million over the same period one year earlier.