Bloody Monday with a Cash For Clunkers Ending
This coming Monday Night, August 24th 2009, won’t be just for Football – as Cash for Clunkers, the popular Government “trade your beater in for a fuel-efficient ride” act will come to an end by 8 pm. This is the second time Clunkers announced extinction, but it looks like Uncle Sam won’t be around to pick up the tab again. C4C is S.O.L. again after Gov’t estimations on how much of the $2Billion remaining they need to fill vouchers, those being for customers who traded in their vehicles and have yet to receive any “Cash” – full details can be found in the Detroit News piece below. Good Night, Sweet CARS Act…
The Obama Administration will end the $3 billion “cash for clunkers” program at 8 p.m. Monday — giving dealers and consumers one final weekend to junk a vehicle and buy a new, greener one. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today the expiration day was determined by using conservative sales estimates, to ensure that there is enough incentive money left in the pot to cover what’s expected to be brisk sales this final weekend. Also late today, Chrysler Group LLC joined General Motors Co. in announcing they will advance funds to dealers who are awaiting payment from the government for clunkers deals.
As of today, the Car Allowance Rebate System, as the program is officially known, has resulted in 457,476 vehicle deals worth $1.91 billion in rebates.
Transportation Department officials estimate about $400 million in vouchers have yet to be submitted by dealers. The department also expects to spend about $100 million on administration costs for the program that began on July 24 and is credited with putting life back into U.S. car and light truck sales. That leaves $600 million for remaining transactions. Dealers have been submitting paperwork for about $100 million, or 20,000 vehicles, a day in recent days. The program has provided rebates of up to $4,500 when people turn in vehicles with a combined city/highway 18 miles per gallon or lower.
Most consumers have turned in trucks and SUVs in exchange for smaller cars, with an improved gas mileage of about 60 percent, the department said. Applications for rebates will not be accepted after 8 p.m. eastern time Monday, and dealers should not make further sales without receiving all the necessary paperwork from their customers, the department said.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade association that represents General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and seven other automakers, praised the government’s handling of the program.
“Automakers congratulate Congress, the Obama administration and NHTSA for developing and implementing a successful program,” alliance CEO Dave McCurdy said. “In less than six weeks, the CARS program will have generated close to 750,000 new vehicle sales. With an average fuel economy increase of almost 10 mpg, the program has achieved its goals of stimulating the economy, enhancing energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed into law a $2 billion expansion of the program after the first $1 billion ran out in the first days of the program. Congress approved a transfer of unspent funds from the $787 billion stimulus program to refuel the program. The Department of Transportation now has more than 1,200 government and contract employees processing dealer applications for rebates and has added computers at its headquarters as well. The department has processed 167,000 applications through today, but it isn’t clear how many have been paid.
Aug 24th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
[...] or have it put down. Regardless of the outcome, that journey is over, Cash for Clunkers is coming to an End. How will history books record C4C? Will it be a rousing success for the automotive industry in [...]