General Motors Co. was given a higher credit rating by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services than Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy last year, Bloomberg reported.

The credit service said it assigned GM a BB- rating with a stable outlook. It had previously given Ford a B+ rating with a positive outlook. GM's rating is three levels below investment grade.

The federal government owns 61 percent of GM.

“Despite weak recovery prospects in Europe, we believe GM has good prospects for generating positive cash flow from its global automotive operations for the rest of 2010 and all of 2011, as the key U.S. auto market gradually recovers and demand in China and Brazil remains robust,” Robert Schulz, a Standard & Poor's credit analyst, said in a statement.

The rating comes a day after Fitch Ratings gave GM a BB- rating, the same as Ford's. GM and the U.S. Treasury aim to hold an $8 billion to $10 billion IPO in November, two people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg last month.