Monday, August 03, 2009

Cash for Clunkers

I took my car in for service this weekend and ended up touring the local automall. It's Cash for Clunkers mania.

The three major U.S. automakers accounted for 47 percent of the first 80,000 "Cash for Clunkers" sales, the U.S. government said Monday.

 Through Saturday afternoon, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has processed 80,500 transactions, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

...

The Ford Focus is the top-selling vehicle in the program. Four of the top 10-selling vehicles are manufactured by Detroit's Big Three.

...

Thus far, 83 percent of trade-ins under the program are trucks, and 60 percent of new vehicle purchases are cars.

What I observed here in Sacramento around noon on Saturday was that the Toyota dealership was packed.  Not just the car lot, but the tables inside where folks haggle prices and such.  I saw a few folks around Ford.  Virtually nobody at Chrysler or Chevy.  Honda had a few folks milling around.  Nissan seemed empty.

Of course, the government program isn't being run very well.  Not exactly a shocker, but may create confusion for buyers and car dealers.

U.S. Senate Democrats sought a path forward on Monday to replenish the "cash for clunkers" auto sales incentive while the White House warned the program would cease at week's end without more money.

Republican doubts, potential procedural hurdles, and limited time for action muddled the outlook for supporters of a proposed $2 billion extension.

"They want to get something done this week," said a Democratic party source who was not authorized to speak for attribution about the matter. "The devil is in the details."

The first opportunity for the Senate to consider a remedy will be Tuesday after Democratic leaders huddle with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss "clunker" prospects, health care legislation and other priorities

Stay tuned!

Of course, maybe a question is why older cars are excluded?  Seems like the oldest and dirtiest cars would be prior to 1984.

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