When Cash for Clunkers Version 1.0 hit the ground running like Hussein Bolt in the 400 meter relay, the U.S. government was caught a little flat-footed by the sheer volume of demand. As a result, after only a few days after C4C was started, the government was looking to shut down the program, and dealer ad dollars were twisting in the wind. Customers were confused, too, as many were unsure if the in
Some car dealerships have a lousy reputation in the honesty and integrity department, and often the rep is well earned. It's unfortunate for the honest dealers out there, but every time a slimy story surfaces, it casts a bad light on the entire business of selling cars. With Cash for Clunkers adding over 300,000 sales in just a few weeks, some issues were bound to occur, and it appears that consumer advocates have turned on the black lights at the roach hotel.
Cash for Clunkers lives on. The Senate passed a $2 billion extension late tonight with a vote of 60/37, giving customers the opportunity to purchase about 500,000 more vehicles through the program. The Obama administration estimates that most or all of the original $1 billion was spent in a matter of only ten days and it's expected the additional $2 billion will only last through Labor Day.
2009 Ford Focus SES Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery
Completing the Obama Administration's plan to replace its fleet of government vehicles with newer, more efficient vehicles, the U.S. General Services Administration is reporting a purchase of roughly $210 million worth of new vehicles from Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.
The writing's been on the wall for years: GM would have to declare bankruptcy if it had any hope of restructuring in order to survive in the long-term. And though the Obama administration's effective take-over of General Motors was hardly the first case of the government nationalizing a private company, President George W. Bush didn't want to be the one to do it.
Many of us ABers being in our early- to mid-30s, we're less amazed that another of our ilk has risen to a decisive government position. We are, after all, a generation on the rise. The surprising part about Brian Deese's story is that he's been instrumental in shaping the Obama administration's moves to save General Motors, and this is his first official tour of duty in Washington. What qualifies a guy who hasn't even finished his Yale Law degree to steer President's automotive task force around
Chrysler's ENVI line of concepts - Click above for a high-res gallery of the Dodge Circuit EV
Currently, the United States isn't producing enough biofuels to satisfy the requirements set out by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and President Obama's administration is planning to do something about it. On Tuesday, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a new $786.5 million program to speed development and commercialization of biofuels in America.
We were on General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson's teleconference with reporters this morning, and while the proceedings were light on revelatory news (okay, there really wasn't any), some important things were clarified:
With the clock ticking down on Chrysler's restructuring deadline from the Obama administration, Fiat's CEO, Sergio Marchionne is getting blunt: Cut costs, or else.
UPDATE: For the sake of clarity, it should be noted that there will be two emissions standards that states can choose - CA and Federal - not the "potentially fifty" that some worry about.
Now that General Motors and Chrysler have accepted Federal assistance in the form of low-interest bridge loans, the two companies may not have many choices available to them if a Fed-appointed individual were to make product recommendations to senior management. In fact, that's exactly what the so-called car czar would likely do, under the guise of keeping an eye on the interests of the taxpayers who funded the automakers' revival. Ford, though, has not accepted any assistance yet, and it hopes
Fuel efficiency. It's an issue that has seemingly fallen onto America's the back-burner for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are declining fuel prices and economy along with the auto industry's financial plight. Still, few would argue that the issue of cutting down on petroleum use is any less important today than it was six months ago, so the decision (or, really, the lack thereof) of the Bush Administration to leave future fuel economy standards on the table for President-Elect Bar
